New Resource Speeds Access to Environmental Justice Data

Earth Day might occur only on April 22, but sensors aboard NASA's constellation of Earth observation satellites are collecting data every day that can be used in a wide range of research. A new NASA resource makes it easier to locate data in the agency's Earth science collection that can be used to further environmental justice and climate justice efforts.

The NASA Environmental Justice Data Search Interface lets you search through hundreds of datasets from multiple missions and view results in list or table view. The interface is another element of the agency's commitment to environmental justice. NASA's Earth Science Data Systems (ESDS) Program strives to broaden the impact of NASA's Earth science data by engaging with a diverse community that can use these data for societal benefit and by providing a wealth of resources that can be utilized to better understand and help mitigate environmental and climate-related injustices around the world.

The new interface enables users to conduct a general search or search within eight focus areas, such as Climate Change, Extreme Heat, Urban Flooding, and Water Availability. Search results can be viewed as a list or as a configurable table that can include general information about a dataset, its strengths and limitations, data format, spatial/temporal resolution, and links to the dataset. A tutorial for using the search portal is available through the home page; a video about the search interface provides an overview.

The Environmental Justice Data Search Interface is powered by NASA's Science Discovery Engine. The Science Discovery Engine (SDE) is an integrated search capability of NASA's Science Mission Directorate that enables discovery of open data and information across the Directorate’s five divisions: Astrophysics, Biological and Physical Sciences, Earth Science, Heliophysics, and Planetary Science.

While Earth Day may be celebrated on one day each year, NASA's Environmental Justice Data Search Interface—along with all the other resources NASA provides fully, openly, and without restriction—is yours to use every day.