This weekend, Friday Night at the Movies features a special, 6-part presentation on space-based agricultural sensing and the role it plays in understanding global food production, land and water use, food security, agricultural economics, and monitoring impacts of climate change on growing patterns.

Produced by NASA, Science for A Hungry World explores the application of science and high-flying technology to one of our most basic, down-to-earth endeavors — feeding ourselves.

Episodes 1 and 2 of the series appear below; links to all appear at botttom.

Episode 1. The series begins with a discussion of the unique perspective space-based observation brings to our understanding of global agriculture, and how tools such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) enhance our ability to monitor and forecast food production on a worldwide scale.

Episode 2. Episode two examines food supply and distribution by looking at how many fields have been planted and how crops are growing. National, international and non-government efforts, such as the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service and USAID’s Famine Early Warning System Network, use this information to predict availability, estimate market pricing, and identify regions that may require humanitarian aid.

Science for a Hungry World: Part 1

Science for a Hungry World: Part 2

More from the Science for A Hungry World Series