Federal agencies use Earth observation data in scores of ways that affect and benefit our lives every day. Government agencies monitor water quality, respond to natural disasters, maintain our national parks, model and predict the weather, protect wildlife habitat, forecast air quality, monitor our natural resources, and much more. Each of these services requires Earth observation data, but how do agencies find the data they need? What are the Earth-observing data needs of other federal agencies that are not met by NASA’s existing science missions and their data products? What new products or solutions would better enable federal agencies to leverage NASA’s network of Earth observing missions to accomplish their objectives?
The Satellite Needs Working Group (SNWG) surveys federal agencies every two years to find out what Earth observation data they need to fulfill their mission. The SNWG is part of the U.S. Group on Earth Observations (USGEO) and includes members from various federal agencies that use Earth observation data. After receiving the survey responses NASA, along with other satellite Earth data providers such as NOAA and USGS, completes an assessment of the survey responses detailing agency needs. This assessment includes identifying current or upcoming satellite missions that help meet their needs as well as analyzing whether multiple agencies need the same kind of information, such as land surface reflectance or surface water identification. Among other important factors, NASA considers development of new data products using existing Earth observation data streams that have the potential to meet the needs of multiple agencies.
An SNWG Management Office at IMPACT:
Federal agency participation in the SNWG survey is on the rise: the number of submitted surveys increased 50% in the 2020 cycle and remained elevated in the 2022 cycle. NASA has established an SNWG Management Office at IMPACT to manage the process of assessing agency needs for satellite Earth observations, and importantly, the implementation and operations of solutions developed by NASA to meet those needs. The SNWG Management Office is an integral part of NASA’s response to the needs of other federal agencies, and closes the loop through its SNWG Stakeholder Engagement Program (SEP).
Facilitate the assessment of SNWG agency needs
In support of NASA’s assessment of 2022 agency needs, the SNWG Management Office provided an detailed evaluation of each submitted need, coordinated the tri-agency assessment process, and developed tools used by all NASA assessment participants. IMPACT also cost-estimated the solutions selected by HQ to meet SNWG agency needs from the 2022 survey and drafted NASA’s presentation of these solutions to OMB. Since the assessment phase concluded in June 2023, IMPACT has led more than a dozen lessons learned retrospectives with participants from the 2022 assessment. The feedback has been analyzed, and IMPACT is using it to refine tools and processes to streamline and support the next assessment cycle in 2024.
Oversee the implementation and operations of SNWG solutions
The SNWG Management Office coordinates the status of all SNWG funded projects at NASA, and meets monthly with NASA SNWG project leads. A full list of solutions being implemented by NASA to meet Federal agency needs can be found on the SNWG solution page. The SNWG Management Office oversees the lifecycles of many of these activities through operational product release, including their engagement of end-users through the SNWG Stakeholder Engagement Program (SEP). The ESDS open source science policy is an important part of the development and implementation effort for all projects managed by the SNWG Management Office. Once appropriations have been received for the fourth cycle (SNWG-2022) solutions, the SNWG Management Office will begin the solution formulation phase, and will proceed to manage the projects through the multi-year process to implement the solutions for operational release. This function will continue for all solutions arising from needs expressed in future SNWG Cycles as well, and will follow NASA’s open source science policies permitting broad access to information on SNWG solutions developed by NASA.
Provide training and community engagement around SNWG solutions
The SNWG Stakeholder Engagement Program (SEP) is the key to providing training, outreach, and community engagement around NASA’s SNWG data products and systems through collaboration across NASA’s Earth Science Division. This includes aggregation of training material about the fundamentals of remote sensing, topics related to data access and processing, plus emphasis on collaborative workshops that bring together communities of federal and other users around these funded solutions. Collaborations among federal users, the scientific community, academia and industry, and NASA’s Earth Science Division empowers these communities to integrate SNWG solutions into their research and decision-making processes.
Presentations and publications
2024 AMS Presentations
- The Satellite Needs Working Group: Frequent Delivery of Interdisciplinary NASA Satellite Data Products
- Analyzing Federal Agency Earth Observation Needs: NASA’s 2022 Satellite Needs Working Group Assessment
2023 AGU Presentations
- Town Hall: The Beginning of a New Era of Multidisciplinary NASA Satellite Data Products Enabled by the Satellite Needs Working Group
- NASA’s Satellite Needs Working Group Management Office: Meeting Agency Needs in an Agile, Open Science Environment
- Analyzing Federal Agency Earth Observation Needs: NASA’s 2022 Satellite Needs Working Group Assessment
- Addressing User Needs through the Stakeholder Engagement Program
2023 AMS Presentations
- Making Better Use of Satellite Data: The Satellite Needs Working Group
- Connecting Federal Agencies to Satellite Earth Observations: NASA’s Satellite Needs Working Group Assessment Process
2022 AGU Presentations
- Leveraging Satellite Assets for Better Decision-Making: The Satellite Needs Working Group
- Promoting Collaborative Open Science through the Stakeholder Engagement Program
2022 AMS Presentation
2021 AGU Presentations
- Best Practices from NASA’s Open Science Response to the Satellite Needs Working Group (SNWG) Process
- Stakeholder Engagement Program Activities Supporting the Satellite Needs Working Group
- A Survey of Earth Observation Data Needed by U.S. Federal Agencies