We show that training activities conducted through the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s Applied Remote-Sensing Training (ARSET) program led to a significant increase in remote-sensing data use for decision-making. Our findings are based on survey data collected from 1041 ARSET participants from 117 countries who attended ARSET trainings between 2013 and 2016. To assess the impact of the ARSET program, we analyzed changes in three metrics. Results show that 83% of all respondents increased their knowledge of remote-sensing data products at least moderately, 79% increased their ability to access data, and 73% increased their ability to make decisions. We also examined how respondents are using remote-sensing data across 40 specific work tasks ranging from research to decision support applications. More than 50% of respondents reported an increase in data use for all except two of the tasks. ARSET will use these findings, together with participant data on future training needs, to set future directions for the program.

We discuss best practices for developing multilanguage remote sensing training. Our discussion is based on the approach developed by the NASA-funded Applied Remote Sensing Training (ARSET) program for Spanish-speaking countries. Best practices include incorporating Spanish language at all phases of the training cycle, from outreach activities to program evaluation, and full integration of Spanish-speaking translators and scientists into educational activities.