The American space agency NASA has offered its satellite technology to Brazil to help monitor and identify destruction in the Amazon rainforest.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson made the announcement during a recent trip to Brazil. The NASA chief visited Brazil’s space agency – the National Institute for Space Research – in the southeastern city of Jose dos Campos.
During a news conference, Nelson described one new NISAR satellite that he said would be completed by January. He said the satellite, called NISAR, will be able to capture images of what is happening in real time below the forest canopy.
“It is going to be able to look through the canopy of the jungle so that we can see if someone has burned the undergrowth and that would ultimately kill the big trees,” Nelson said.
NASA stated the new satellite will support a project called SERVIR Amazonia. The project helps provide Earth science data to scientists and decision-makers across the Amazon area to record environmental changes in near real-time. It also helps predict climate threats like deforestation and food insecurity as well as provide data to emergency workers during natural disasters.
Brazil’s space agency has launched a series of satellites in collaboration with China since 1999. Those satellites aim to collect data on agricultural operations and the environment.
Brazil relies on satellite imagery to watch over the Amazon. However, cloud cover often mankes it difficult for satellites to capture clear and timely images. The NASA chief said the satellites NASA plans to place into orbit early next year will provide an “extreme ability to understand what is happening” to the rainforest.
Nelson also met with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brazilia. After their meeting, he told reporters he thanked the president “for his continuous effort to save the Amazon rainforest.”