Sam Houston State University environmental science professor Yaping Xu has been awarded a $1.2 million cooperative agreement from NASA to establish the Forecasting Agricultural Research and Management Geospatial Operations (FARMGO) initiative.
The three-year project will leverage NASA Earth science data, artificial intelligence and geospatial technologies to help farmers in the Sun Belt region plan for increasingly unpredictable weather patterns.
"The summer of 2023 was exceptionally dry—August saw almost no rainfall," Xu said. "The drought returned in the summer of 2025, posing serious challenges for local farmers who struggled to plan ahead amid increasing uncertainty."
FARMGO will translate complex NASA datasets into clear, map-based insights accessible through a free public website. The system will specifically monitor climate phenomena like El Niño–Southern Oscillation and convert that information into actionable guidance.
"NASA provides a wealth of satellite observations, but most farmers don't have the training or resources to process satellite data," Xu said. "With FARMGO, we aim to give farmers actionable information in just a few clicks."
The collaborative effort includes Xu's SHSU colleague Josh Gilliland, along with researchers from Arizona State University and Prairie View A&M University.
