As we observe September as National Preparedness Month, it is important to remember that being prepared is the most important thing you can do to assist in dealing with any disaster or emergency. Unfortunately, no amount of preparation will stop a natural disaster or emergency from occurring, but how you react to them can be just as critical. This is why the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) created a Disaster Mapping Team.
The Disaster Mapping Team monitors agricultural disasters in near-real time and provides quantitative assessments of affected agricultural land using remotely sensed data and geospatial techniques. These essential data support prompt decision making about emergency assistance, food security and crop insurance programs.
From hurricanes, floods and wildfires to derechos, droughts and tornadoes, NASS provides assessment reports, maps, geospatial data and metadata on weather events to the public. These products assist internal and external stakeholders in estimating economic impact of disasters on their agricultural sectors, assist state emergency boards in gauging long-term extents of damage, help to understand implications on livestock and feeding operations, and support the USDA Multiagency Coordination Team during response and recovery. This work is made possible by using timely, openly available geospatial data and a cloud computing platform.
The Disaster Mapping Team allows NASS to fill a critical need and provide timely, accurate and useful statistics in service to U.S. Agriculture. More information is available on the NASS Disaster Analysis web page at www.nass.usda.gov/Research_and_Science/Disaster-Analysis/index.php.
