Eyes on Earth: Forests
Deforestation, drought, pests, and other ailments deteriorate forests around the world. Seeing forests from high above can allow researchers and land managers to monitor tree health. Remote sensing satellites provide a constant flow of information for scientists, managers, and others.
Episode 72 – Northward Shift of the Boreal Forest
In this episode, we learn about changes to Earth’s largest land biome. The boreal forest, or taiga, stretches across nearly 5.7 million square miles in the northern latitudes. That’s nearly a quarter of all forested lands in the world. This sprawling biome also happens to be one of the most rapidly shifting in the face of climate change. Many studies have suggested that the taiga tree line is moving northward as temperatures warm worldwide, edging itself into the colder tundra. On this episode of Eyes On Earth, we hear from Professor Logan Berner, part of team at Northern Arizona University’s Global Earth Observation and Dynamics of Ecosystems (GEODE) Lab that used USGS Landsat satellite data to track and quantify the northward shift of the boreal tree line.
Guests: Logan Berner, assistant research professor in the School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems (SICCS), Northern Arizona University
Host: John Hult
Release date: April 18, 2022
Episode 71 – Blue Oak Forests of California
In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we zero in on the use of USGS Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCMAP) products to examine the effects of drought on California’s Blue Oaks. LCMAP datasets are built from Landsat data and reveal the land cover and change of every pixel in the conterminous United States, dating back to 1985. In this case, LCMAP helped identify areas of declines and losses of the Blue Oak trees that are native to California and found in the foothills surrounding the central valley and along the coast.
Guests: Francis Dwomoh, contractor and landscape ecologist, USGS EROS Center
Host: Jane Lawson
Release date: April 4, 2022
Episode 68 - Tracking Mangroves by Satellite
In this episode, we learn what satellites can tell us about mangrove forests. The sturdy root systems of mangrove forests act as buffer zones along the coastlines of some of the planet’s most vulnerable communities, protecting lives, ecosystems and property from the rigors of hurricanes and tsunamis. The dual stressors of climate change and man-made changes to the environment such as offshore aquaculture have damaged these critical buffer zones in recent years. Remote sensing scientists are using satellite data to understand the impact those changes will have on the communities they protect as temperatures continue to warm worldwide and extreme weather events become more frequent. On this episode of Eyes on Earth, we talk to one of those scientists, Dr. Lola Fatoyinbo.
Guest: Dr. Lola Fatoyinbo Agueh, Research Physical Scientist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Host: John Hult
Release date: February 21, 2022
Episode 64 – Colorado Bark Beetles
In this episode, we learn how Landsat helps to track bark beetle outbreaks. Outbreaks of native bark beetles can lead to conspicuous changes in a forest landscape. They’ve been present for thousands of years with occasional outbreaks, but there’s a lot we don’t yet understand about them. Exactly when and where have outbreaks occurred? How severe were they? What happened to the forest afterward? How will a warming climate influence future outbreaks?
On this episode of Eyes on Earth, we hear from researchers Dr. Sarah Hart and Dr. Kyle Rodman, who use Landsat to help find answers to those questions. A recent study led by Dr. Rodman used Landsat to identify the locations and severity of bark beetle outbreaks in the southern Rocky Mountains. The researchers were surprised to find smaller areas of severe mortality than they expected. Landsat can even be used to help predict patterns of future outbreaks. Dr. Zhiliang Zhu, a USGS researcher, adds his perspective of the effects of forest disturbance as well.
Guests: Dr. Sarah Hart, forest ecologist, Colorado State University; Dr. Kyle Rodman, research scientist, Northern Arizona University’s Ecological Restoration Institute; Dr. Zhiliang Zhu, USGS biologic carbon sequestration researcher
Host: Jane Lawson
Release date: December 27, 2021
Episode 53 - Remapping Canada's Fire History
In this episode, we learn how Landsat improved fire perimeter mapping in Canada. Mapping fire perimeters is important work. It guides post-fire restoration efforts, fire mitigation strategies, and helps track of trends in burn severity over time. In the past, many of Canada’s fire agencies relied heavily on techniques like sketch mapping, which estimate burned area without exact measurements. In the pre-satellite era, pilots would sometimes fly over the edge of a fire while a passenger recorded its extent. On this episode of Eyes on Earth, we hear about what two researchers from Natural Resources Canada learned when they used Landsat satellite data to rebuild historical fire perimeters.
Guest: Ellen Whitman and Rob Skakun, Natural Resources Canada
Host: John Hult
Release date: June 28, 2021
Episode 48 – Satellites and the Forest Census
In this episode, we hear how the Nation’s Forest Census aids satellite-based mapping efforts. It’s possible to map vegetation type with Landsat, but getting the maps right requires more than satellites alone. The teams behind LANDFIRE use an extensive network of ground control points to check their work, thereby bolstering the reliability and utility of their multi-layer GIS product suite. On this episode of Eyes on Earth, we meet scientist Karen Schleeweis, who tells us about LANDFIRE’s largest single source of ground truth data, a U.S. Forest Service program called Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA).
Guest: Karen Schleeweis, FIA Techniques Research Band Lead/LANDFIRE Liaison, U.S. Forest Service
Host: John Hult
Release date: April 19, 2021
Episode 46 – Deforestation and Forest Degradation
In this episode, we hear how Landsat can aid the study of deforestation around the world. Deforestation is a significant concern for many parts of the globe, particularly in places like the rainforests of the Amazon or the Congo. Scientists, governments, and non-governmental organizations turn to satellite data to track deforestation, as well as to set targets for improvement. On this episode of Eyes on Earth, we hear from a remote sensing specialist with the U.S. Forest Service who develops algorithms that sift through satellite data to capture not only deforestation events, but the more subtle degradation events that have an impact on forest health.
Guest: Dr. Eric Bullock, U.S. Forest Service
Host: John Hult
Release date: March 22, 2021
Episode 21 - Forests of Ghana
In the West African nation of Ghana, tropical forests are more than landscape. They are woven into language, custom, and culture. They are also the source of timber for home heating and industry, as well as barriers to agricultural production. Those are just a few of the reasons why deforestation has come alongside the nation’s rapid population growth. In this episode, an EROS scientist and Ghana native talks about how Landsat satellites help track deforestation and offer guidance on forest regrowth.
Guests: Francis Dwomoh, EROS contractor and remote sensing scientist
Host: Steve Young
Release date: April 6, 2020
Episode 12 – Plant Health via Satellite (NDVI)
In this episode, we learn about an important tool for remote sensing scientists – the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). A farmer at the foot of a corn stalk can tell how well the plant is faring. That same farmer might survey his entire field for crop health. But assessing the health of crops or forests at regional, national, and international scales requires remote sensing, most often via satellite. In this episode of Eyes on Earth, we talk to Jesslyn Brown about the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), a tool that uses the broader electromagnetic spectrum to estimate plant health.
Guests: Jesslyn Brown, Research Physical Scientist
Host: John Hult
Release date: Dec. 16, 2019