Data for Social Impact
Using high-resolution satellite imagery and advanced big data analysis tools, Jennifer Burney, professor and co-director of the Big Pixel Initiative, is turning to the trees to gauge the health of semi-arid ecosystems, which are home to the world’s poorest populations and among the areas most affected by climate change. Prototyping this assessment tool in Sertão, Brazil, she develops tree density maps for specific regions that can then be “ground-truthed” and linked to farm-level management data. The goal is to use this novel technique across the world’s semi-arid regions to provide high-resolution indicators of overall ecosystem health.
