Category Archives: Enviro/Ag
Army Corps’ (JALBTCX) data improves coastal projects
In a hotel conference room on Long Island, New York, a team of experts is processing data and information on computers. Alongside them is a large display monitor that is projecting the information. The team is the Joint Airborne Lidar Bathymetry Technical Center of Expertise (JALBTCX). “It’s a beautiful thing. On the screen they are...
Galapagos in 360 Degrees
“Like cinders… infernal… leafless…” Charles Darwin wrote those words in his diary on September 16, 1835, after setting foot for the first time on the Galapagos. Darwin, whose scientific work in the far-flung archipelago considerably changed our understanding of how life on Earth evolves, was a keen observer of nature. And on that day, while...
Another Curveball: Coronavirus and Geospatial
Out of the blue, we’re facing another curveball. The current global concern (COVID-19, aka the Coronavirus) was generally not anticipated, and the situation changes daily. It was hoped that, by the time this is published, the situation would have calmed dramatically—but sadly it has taken a turn for the worse. Thus far disruptions have only...
Smart Maps Guide COVID-19 Investigations and Actions
As hundreds of millions of eyes stay glued to the rising toll and reach of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), map-based dashboards have become a compelling, near real-time way to monitor the outbreak. They’ve also substantiated the message that everyone must take precautions and alter daily interactions. When the World Health Organization (WHO) declared...
Half-Earth Day 2019
E.O. Wilson Spearheads a Global Call to Action In 2016, Edward O. Wilson, the “Father of Biodiversity,” wrote a book called Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life. In the third part of a trilogy, after The Social Conquest of Earth and The Meaning of Human Existence, Wilson refutes our impending sixth extinction and argues the...
Many Sensors for a Tulip Tree Map
Above: The forests of Puerto Rico are second-growth, making for useful modeling. After hurricane deforestation in Puerto Rico, NASA scientists study forest regrowth using high-resolution, multi-sensor image data. The Biospheric Laboratory of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is dedicated to increasing knowledge about the Earth’s terrestrial ecosystem. One group of scientists there has been...