NASA and Microsoft to launch AI-based Earth Copilot

NASA has teamed up with Microsoft to create Earth Copilot, an AI tool designed to make it easier for people to access and understand the large amount of Earth Science data NASA collects from its satellites. 

According to an official blog by Microsoft, the partnership uses Microsoft's Azure cloud and AI technology to help users find and analyse the data without needing specialised knowledge.

NASA gathers data on various environmental topics, like weather, ocean temperatures, and land changes, explains the blog post. However, the data can be quite complex, making it difficult for regular users to collect necessary information. With the amount of data growing, this challenge is becoming even bigger.

Earth Copilot aims to solve this by letting users ask simple questions in plain language, such as "What was the impact of Hurricane Ian on Sanibel Island?" or "How did the Covid-19 pandemic affect air quality in the US?" The AI will then find the right data to answer those questions, making it quicker and easier to get useful information, explains Microsoft in the blog post.

The tool is meant to help more people use NASA's data. It can support scientists, researchers, policymakers, and even teachers. Scientists can focus on studying the data instead of searching for it, while teachers can use it to engage students with real-world examples of Earth Science. Policymakers can also use the tool to make informed decisions on issues like climate change or disaster response, says Microsoft.

Currently, NASA is testing Earth Copilot with its own researchers. After it's fully tested, the tool will be added to NASA's existing data platform called VEDA. This project is part of NASA's Open Science initiative, which works to make scientific data more open and accessible to everyone, further states Microsoft.