Welcome to the NASA Disasters community.
Just a few weeks ago, NASA celebrated Earth Day with the rest of the world. The 2021 theme was “Connected by Earth,” and it reminded me of just how meaningful connections are. Seeing images of cities around the world lit up at night from vantage points such as the International Space Station makes it easy to visualize connected communities. Our work also reminds us how fragile physical connections can be when hazards such as hurricanes, fires, floods, earthquakes, landslides, or tsunamis threaten.
This past year, we saw raging wildfires, unseasonal flooding, and a record-breaking hurricane season. There were 22 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters across the United States. In 2021, we've already seen the Caribbean island of St. Vincent blanketed in ash as La Soufrière volcano erupted. As I write this, Tropical Storm Andres has become the earliest named storm on record to develop in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
 
The intensity and frequency of natural hazards continue to increase; vulnerabilities and exposures grow, putting communities and economies at risk. Good information shared with trust informs choice and supports good decisions, and good decisions guide actions that reduce risk. That’s why we aim to engage, not only with fellow scientists, but with all levels and manners of society on a global scale to collaborate and support research and applications that will help prepare and protect our most vulnerable communities.
 
The information that NASA provides through data portals, dashboards and visualizations empowers decision-makers to understand the connections and interplay between Earth phenomena. With this newsletter, we’ll connect you with people enabling action, innovative technologies, cutting-edge research, and ways to access geospatial information that can help your community throughout every phase of the disaster cycle. We’ll highlight collaborations that will make a positive impact in our world. You’ll get to know some of our team, including world-renowned experts, emerging professionals, and students we've sponsored. Each of them is dedicated to making a profound and positive impact on our world through their work
 
Connecting local and regional communities to these resources, relationships, and scientific expertise ultimately enables our world to become more safe, resilient, and sustainable. We invite you to join us to make that impact count where it matters most. Thank you for being a part of our disasters community and for connecting with us.

Sincerely,

David Green
Program Manager, NASA Earth Applied Sciences Disasters Program Area
Was this newsletter forwarded to you?

You can opt-in for future community newsletters and get future editions and other timely information delivered right to your inbox.
Readying for Resilience
It's Spring Flood Season in the US
Floods cause more loss of life and property and account for more deaths than other severe weather event types in the United States. The month of May means floods, and we stand ready to aid communities by providing cutting-edge research and NASA data that enhance emergency managers’ expertise as they tackle the challenges of this flood season.
The Program at Work
Building Disaster Resilience Throughout the Americas
As AmeriGEO Disasters Working Group co-lead, Ricardo Quiroga acts as a focal point to engage stakeholders and international organizations and processes for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas. See how Quiroga connects organizations throughout the region to NASA Earth-observation resources to help vulnerable communities build resilience.
Helping the World Weather the Atlantic Hurricane Season
The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season starts June 1. Learn how NASA made remote-sensing data more discoverable and accessible to communities worldwide during last year's unprecedented hurricane season and how you can access near real-time and event-specific data products to help weather this year’s storms.
Innovative Applied Research
Improving Flood and Landslide Monitoring
Floods and landslides cause thousands of fatalities and billions of dollars in damages globally each year. See how Maggi Glasscoe and Dalia Kirschbaum work with NASA to improve disaster risk reduction and response with innovative flood and landslide monitoring.
Landslide Image
Making Soil Moisture Data Accessible for Disaster Management
Disaster professionals worldwide use our Disasters Mapping Portal to get scientific data and create immediately useful and relevant maps. With recent integration of data from NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite, users now have convenient access to timely soil moisture data to help predict the impacts of floods and fires in specific regions.
People Behind the Program
Kris Bedja - Severe Weather Scientist
Severe Weather Researcher: Kris Bedka

Of the three primary severe convective storm hazards, tornadoes, hail, and wind, hail is the biggest driver of insured loss. See how Kris Bedka uses long-term satellite data records, satellite-based sensors and other tools to help people make informed decisions about hailstorm risk around the globe.
Student Spotlight:
Ashley Kleinman

Our intern, Carmen Atkins, introduces us to Ashley Kleinman, an intern with NASA’s Ocean Biology & Biogeochemistry (OBB) program. Kleinman shares what her work at NASA on marine debris means to her and what it can mean for our planet.
Risk Reduction, Response, and Recovery
While NASA is not an operational response agency, access to our resources, relationships, and scientific expertise enables affected stakeholders a unique multi-discipline systemic analysis of hazards and disasters to inform actionable decisions.

Here are some recent events we have been watching.
Flase color composite imagery showing the extent of ash fall and pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) from the La Soufriere eruption 2021
In the News
Changes between radar images taken before and after 2019 earthquakes in Ridgecrest California reveal slip along perpendicular faults.
Anticipation Hub Model
Upcoming Events
Stay up-to-date with our latest projects and discoveries and see how NASA is helping to make a difference on our home planet.