WEBVTT FILE

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[rousing music]

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[bright music]

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[laughter]

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- Did you hear that?

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I think it's almost lunchtime.

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But have you ever wondered
where food comes from?

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Why do some
of the best oranges

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come from Florida,
and peaches come from Georgia?

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Does it matter
where food grows?

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- Where food grows is really
important because we want

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to make sure that everybody
in the world has enough food,

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and nobody is hungry.

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My job at NASA Harvest is
to help people around the world

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become more food secure,
which means that they have

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enough water,
enough nutrients

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to ensure that they
can survive in case

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of a drought
and have access to food.

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We can see farms
all around our world

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using satellite imagery.

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They can look extremely
different depending

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on the rainfall,
temperature and soils,

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and their
shapes and sizes.

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So you can find really
large farms in places

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like Iowa and Illinois
that are going on.

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And then you might
find irregular,

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very small fields in Africa
where there's a dependency

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on smallholder agriculture.

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The environment and certain
geographic features

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affect how well plants grow.

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Certain geographic features

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are important
for specific crops.

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For example, in states
like Iowa and Illinois,

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farms are very flat,
expansive,

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and the weather
and environment

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are great for growing corn.

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Likewise,
in China and in India,

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the environment is suitable
for production of rice.

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Rice needs hot and humid
climates,

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and is best suited for regions
that have high humidity,

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prolonged sunshine,
and a sure supply of water.

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- "Orange" you glad you asked?

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Having an eye in the sky
is beneficial to farmers.

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But what does that data mean?

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Ground and climate conditions
play an important role

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in determining where and when
certain crops are grown.

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But how do we know
what grows better where?

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What does the satellite data
tell us?

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- So we use the images
that come from satellites

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to map and monitor
farms on Earth

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by using the information
contained

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in every single pixel.

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A pixel is the smallest dot
that makes up an optical

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satellite image, and basically
determines how detailed

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picture of Earth is
from that satellite.

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So the size of a pixel
is really important.

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A high resolution
satellite image enables us

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to see different features
on the ground.

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For example, we can
distinguish between

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a building and a tree
in close proximity.

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So if there's a tree
right next to a building,

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you can distinguish it.

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As the resolution gets lower,
it becomes more difficult

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to distinguish between
these different features,

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especially when
they're close to each other.

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So for example, we wouldn't
be able to tell the difference

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between a crop field,
a park, and a forest,

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It would all just
be vegetation.

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So when we use
satellite imagery,

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we have to translate it
into information

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that others
can understand.

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And sometimes this
requires using a map.

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A map has a key
that has symbols

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that tell us
what is in the map.

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So when we develop a map
from the imagery

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that we've collected,

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we create these
color-coded maps

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giving us ideas of what places
might be experiencing drought,

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like red areas, and areas
that are borderline drought

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that would be represented
with orange

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and areas
that are flourishing

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that it could be green,
for example.

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So satellite data are
actually really important

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for understanding
how well crops are doing.

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And so we can compare
like this season

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with previous seasons,
as well as give a forecast

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and a prediction
for what might happen.

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At the end of the season,
like, will we have enough,

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will we have the same
as usual,

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will we have less than usual,

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or will we have
more than enough

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that then could be exported
and support

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other countries
that might not have enough.

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So we do get a lot of data
from satellites.

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It is really important
because we can see

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and understand what's
happening in large areas.

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But what makes that possible

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is a lot
of ground information.

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We need to know
what is on the ground

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in order to understand
what's in the satellite data.

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And so we go to the field
a lot

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with phones and GPSes.

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There's other
ground information

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like from weather stations
that are on the ground

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that are used so we can
evaluate, validate,

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and make sure that what
satellite data is telling us

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is in fact true by looking
at vegetation conditions.

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- So it's important to make
sure that the satellite data

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"pears" nicely with the data
that's on the ground.

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And you can help NASA
do that

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by using the Land Cover
Adopt a Pixel tool

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on the GLOBE Observer app.

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Now you know how NASA helps us
get food in our world.

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I'm going to go see
what's growing in my garden.

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See you next time.