GIS / Remote Sensing

REMOTE SENSING AND GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS) FACILITY

The Center for Biodiversity and Conservation (CBC) is a leader in making vast, diverse sets of data available to researchers and planners in an easily accessible way. In 1998, the CBC established the Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems (RS/GIS) Facility. Its technologies have helped CBC staff identify potential survey sites, analyze deforestation rates in focal study areas, integrate spatial and non-spatial databases, and create persuasive visual aids to enhance reports and proposals.

CBC scientists use remote sensing to quantify and record variations in reflected energy across the electromagnetic spectrum. The resulting digital images are tied to coordinates on the ground, allowing analysts to monitor many living and non-living parameters, such as sea-surface temperature, vegetation cover, vegetation health, soil moisture, and location of roads, towns, and cities. For example, CBC scientists have used digital imagery to differentiate forests from agricultural areas, enabling them to analyze historical rates of deforestation and predict the future status of such forests. When analyzed together, the layers—which represent political, biological, and physical attributes—allow scientists, planners, and regulators to effectively plan for balancing human needs and biodiversity conservation. Unlike conventional maps, those produced with GIS are easily updated as new data become available.

Uses of Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems in CBC Programs

Bolivia
In 1998, the CBC, NASA, and other agencies developed the Inter-Andean Geographical Information Systems Data Center at Museo Noel Kempff Mercado in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. This regional center supports training programs for and supplies data to conservation specialists to document patterns of land use and rates of conversion from natural to humandominated ecosystems.

Madagascar
In a long-term study of humpback whales in Antongil Bay, Madagascar, sponsored by the CBC and the Wildlife Conservation Society, RS/GIS staff have participated in data collection, provided technical support on spatial data-collection protocols, assisted with novel tracking methods, and conducted a needs assessment for future RS/GIS workshops. The project is creating a database that combines genetic, positional, and behavioral information with photographic identification (unique identifiable patterns of pigmentation on flukes and scarring on individual whales) to provide a model for whale conservation programs not only in Africa, but also on a global scale. In order to facilitate information sharing, a Web-based database and pattern-matching software are in development.

Vietnam
As part of an international team of scientists making recommendations for the inclusion of new forest reserves in Vietnam's protected area system, the CBC has used RS/GIS technology to identify forested areas suitable for multidisciplinary field studies and to predict scenarios for potential new reserves based on previous rates of deforestation. Training our Vietnamese colleagues in the use of RS/GIS has also been a priority.

In November 1999, CBC staff organized several workshops to introduce the potential applications for RS/GIS in biodiversity conservation to Vietnamese scientists, resource managers, technicians, and university students. Using the RS/GIS Facility's innovative “mobile lab” (including laptop computers, software, printers, LCD projectors, and GPS units), these first-of-their-kind workshops were a collaborative effort funded by NASA and involving several Vietnamese and international institutions. A follow-up workshop for the same group of professionals provided advanced training in fragmentation analysis, which is critical to protecting Vietnam's remaining natural areas. In February 2001, a second workshop series, “Introduction to Fragmentation Metrics for biodiversity Conservation,” provided four highly interactive sessions to 16 participants, several of whom had attended the earlier workshops.

In fall of 2002 the RS/GIS Lab completed a land cover map showing natural habitats and human-dominated areas for the Central Truong Son region of Vietnam, and will extend this work using additional data sets to refine the classification for areas critical to conservation and to determine historical changes in land cover (see section on Vietnam program). As part of this work, the Lab has begun the process of testing methods to create digital elevation models (DEMs) using satellite data. These DEMs will be used to improve land cover classifications and better predict changes in land cover over time. Other work in Vietnam includes the initial land cover classification for the Huong Son region in Vietnam.

Bahamas
Since it began in 1999, the CBC's marine research and conservation program in the Bahamas has combined RS/GIS with underwater surveys of species and habitats to map coral-reef diversity along the island of Andros, site of the world's third largest barrier reef. The resulting data on reef biodiversity will be immediately useful to both the Bahamian government and local conservation organizations interested in ongoing planning for a new Land and Sea National Park.

Education Outreach
The RS/GIS Lab is actively developing web-based education resources geared toward improving the RS/GIS “state-of-the-practice” among environmental and conservation practitioners. This set of resources is geared toward biologists, resource managers, and others interested in using satellite imagery to understand the land cover or land cover dynamics for a particular area. The remote sensing and GIS group is also developing workshops for conservation biology students and practitioners to learn how to use spatial data such as satellite imagery, aerial photographs, and GIS data layers and the necessary tools to more effectively monitor and manage our environmental resources.