NASA has collected a staggering 100 petabytes of scientific data on Earth thanks to its satellites. But the space agency’s wealth of information on topics from climate change to ocean temperatures to deforestation patterns is largely inaccessible to the general public due to its complexity. Enter Microsoft (MSFT). The tech giant is partnering with NASA to make its geospatial information easily available for scientists, policymakers and students through a new A.I. assistant known as Earth Copilot. Enabled by Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service, Earth Copilot will allow users to draw from NASA’s data by asking simple questions like: “What was the impact of Hurricane Ian in Sanibel Island?” or “How did the Covid-19 pandemic affect air quality in the U.S.?”
Whereas previous interactions with NASA’s datasets required an ability to understand specific data formats and technical interfaces, the space agency says its new A.I.-infused project will offer clear results in mere seconds. “We’ve designed the system to handle complex queries and large datasets efficiently, ensuring that users can quickly find the information they need without getting bogged down by technical complexities,” said Juan Carlos López, a Microsoft Azure specialist and former NASA engineer, in a statement.
How can the public use NASA’s satellite data?
Collected by orbiting sensors and instruments, NASA’s scientific data has endless applications on Earth. Agricultural experts can use information on soil moisture levels to inform crop management techniques, for example, while historical data on hurricanes benefits scientists working on new predictive models. Access to such data therefore has wide-ranging impacts on sectors like policy, disaster response, agriculture and urban planning. “This issue isn’t just a matter of convenience; it has real-world implications,” said Tyler Bryson, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of health and public sector industries, in a post announcing the collaboration.
The capabilities of Earth Copilot are currently only being tested by NASA scientists and researchers. Before integrating the A.I. tool into NASA’s pre-existing data analysis platform, known as Visualization, Exploration, and Data Analysis (VEDA), the agency said it will undergo rigorous internal evaluations to avoid any potential misuse.
According to Minh Nyugen, a cloud solution architect at Microsoft, Earth Copilot’s broader vision is to bring NASA data to underserved communities that can benefit from the agency’s trove of information. “By enabling users to interact with the data through simple, plain language queries, we’re helping to democratize access to spaceborne information,” said Nyugen in a statement.