22 Jan 2018 The American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting is the largest earth and space science meeting that brings together science communities from across the globe in the pursuit of high quality science and knowledge, working to ensure a sustainable future. Scientists, educators, students, and professionals from worldwide participate annually to present their research on a broad spectrum of scientific topics, and discuss the latest trends, research, and scientific developments in the geophysical arena. The annual AGU meeting was organized in New Orleans, the United States, from 11–15 December 2017. AGU Fall Meeting research paper presentation sessions on display for ‘Use of earth observations in mitigating major environmental challenged in South and Southeast Asia’. On this day, representatives from SERVIR-HKH, ICIMOD also presented. The AGU meeting featured more than 20,000 oral and poster presentations, a broad range of keynote lectures, networking opportunities, and an exhibit showcasing new and relevant research products, tools, and services. During the five-day conference, representatives of SERVIR Hindu Kush Himalaya (SERVIR-HKH) from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) participated in a session on the use of earth observation (EO) in mitigating major environmental challenges in South and Southeast Asia. There were presentations and discussions the work of SERVIR-HKH in relation to the latest advances in remote sensing for societal benefit. The scientists and researchers presented two papers on the regional drought monitoring system. The first paper, South Asia Land Data Assimilation System (SALDAS), focused on a modelling platform to inform drought preparedness and response by using multiple land surface models and meteorological forcing datasets to characterize uncertainty, and sub seasonal to seasonal hydrological forecasts. In this session, the team presented their first results from an emerging operational drought monitoring and forecast system developed and supported by the NASA SERVIR-HKH hub. The second topic discussed localizing drought monitoring data products through local level validation and contextualizing monitoring systems with local farming practices in South Asia. The localized drought monitoring system enables agriculture experts to translate scientific data into commonly understandable agriculture advisories and helps local farmers in climate related decision making. Faisal Qamer, Remote Sensing Specialist from the SERVIR initiative at ICIMOD, presenting at the 2017 AGU on the validation/calibration of CHIRP data products. The SERVIR-HKH team also presented on Afghanistan’s wheat sown area mapping system using high resolution optical and RADAR images on a cloud platform. The wheat area mapping system has been developed to support the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) for annual food security planning in Afghanistan. During the NASA flash talk, “Taking charge of economic growth with the help of satellite imagery”, the NASA-SERVIR team also highlighted an example from Afghanistan in advancing the use of earth and space sciences for the benefit of humanity. NASA Flash Talk on ‘Taking Charge of Economic Growth with the help of Satellite Imagery’ at the 2017 AGU Fall Meeting in New Orleans, the United States.