Flying Blind
As reported online 11-09-2007 in Satellites miss environmental priorities, Trends Ecol. Evol. (2007)
by Scott R. Loarie, Lucas N. Joppa, and Stuart L. Pimm (photo). For additional information, contact Scott Loarie at office: 919-613-8057, cel: 707-217-8479,
email: scott [ dot] loarie [ at] duke [ dot] edu
We are flying blind. Now more than ever, environmental issues such as the rapid loss of biodiversity, deforestation, and climate change are at the forefront of public consciousness and global policy. Our ability to monitor these environmental changes, however, is unraveling. Different satellites measure different processes. Satellites with a lower spatial resolution can cover more of the globe more frequently, but cannot make out certain features. Figure 1 compares the resolution of three widely used satellites.
As a result of battery failure on October 6th, 2007, the United States government's Landsat mission which had imaged the globe continuously since 1972 stopped functioning. The thirty-five year sequence of Landsat images has allowed scientists to monitor long term changes to the environment. Figure 2 shows deforestation in West Africa across fifteen years. These changes will continue, but without Landsat we can no longer track them at the same scale.
Fortunately, the private sector has partially filled this gap in imagery with a growing fleet of commercial high resolution satellites. While the private sector has done an excellent job making their archives available to the scientific community, they image at the request of paying clients. As a result, most of these high resolution images are of cities, and roads. The places most effected by environmental changes, (tropical forests, the poles, places with high biodiversity, and landscapes in and around protected areas), are seriously underrepresented.
The scientific community must find ways to work with the government and the private sector to ensure that we keep a vigilant eye on our environment through our satellite network. The following images are samples of Quickbird, a commercial satellite operated by Digital Globe, and Landsat imagery. These images illustrate the important role these satellites play in monitoring our environment. Click on the thumbnails for larger versions. To view these images on Google Earth, click here to install the software and then simply click on the "View in Google Earth" links below the thumbnails.
Monitoring plants and animals
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| Florida mangroves | Botswana elephant trails | New York captive elephants | Hippos in South Africa |
| View in Google Earth | View in Google Earth | View in Google Earth |
