Dr. Aparna R. Phalke is currently a lead for Agriculture and Food Security thematic area of SERVIR global (Science Coordination Office) a joint program of NASA and USAID based at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama. She is also affiliated as a research scientist with Earth System Science Center (ESSC) at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). Her work includes co-development and applying the satellite based tools and algorithms to support end-user decisions related to climate resilient agriculture and preparedness. Her work at SERVIR supports the smallholder farmers across developing countries across Asia and Africa in their decision making. She has published her work on impact of policies on agricultural land use change and agricultural monitoring using satellite data. Her overall research work has included geographic coverage of globe covering countries such as Thailand, Myanmar, India, Kenya, continental Europe, Middle East, Russia, Central Asia. She has pursued her PhD from University of Wisconsin and graduate education from Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand and Marathwada Agricultural University, India. Her passion lies from her childhood roots in a small village vulnerable farming community in India. Through SERVIR, she is converting her passion to action while connecting space to villages for agriculture and food security challenges with the larger team of scientists.
As the global population continues to grow, there is an increasing need for innovation and dedicated efforts to produce more food in a sustainable and climate-resilient manner. Unfortunately, since 2000, the rate of hunger and malnutrition has increased remarkably, and this has been further intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, by integrating digital technology with geospatial and frontier advances like cloud computing, high-resolution satellite data accessibility, AI, and ML, we can aid in resolving grassroots-scale food security-related challenges through data-driven and stakeholder-inclusive decisions. To this end, a joint initiative of NASA, USAID, and leading geospatial organizations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, SERVIR, partners with countries and organizations in these regions to address critical challenges in climate change, food security, water and related disasters, land use, and air quality. Using satellite data and geospatial technology, SERVIR co-develops innovative solutions through a network of regional hubs to improve resilience and sustainable resource management at the local, national, and regional scales.
This session will present a panel discussion on the challenges in developing the methods, algorithms and products from SERVIRs’ Agriculture and Food Security services and discuss its end-use as per decision-maker interest. As SERVIR connects the space based information through satellite based datasets to village or local decision making, this panel will help the community to understand SERVIRs’ approach to connect Space to Village for food security challenges through its services and also provide SERVIR opportunity to learn similar or advanced approaches from broader conference community.
New Delhi, India
Texcoco, Mexico
Washington, D.C., United States
