There’s no limit to what you can do with a little bit of data.
Recently, satellite data that’s useful to the forestry industry has become available on a free and openly accessible basis.
Previously, the high cost of data and little analytical options have limited technology’s use for taking inventory and monitoring large forested areas.
Dr. Michael Wulder works at the Canadian Forest Service, Pacific Forestry Centre in Victoria, B.C. Simply put, remote sensing technology is a term for learning about something without actually making physical contact or being on site.
"Having access to free and open data in a form ready for analysis means spending more time generating information, rather than on extensive data gathering and preprocessing tasks,” said Dr. Michael Wulder, a senior research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service of Natural Resources Canada. (Wulder will be presenting the lecture.)
For example, using a time-series of remotely sensed data has allowed scientists to monitor the return of vegetation (and trees) following a disturbance, providing a more complete picture of forest dynamics.
“We are now able to produce otherwise unavailable forest information products over large areas in a timely, systematic and transparent fashion.”
Wulder uses remotely sensed and spatial data to study and monitor forests across Canada, over a range of scales, contributing to national and international programs.
His lecture titled "Sometimes a Crazy Plan Comes Together: How Open Data Unlocked Remote Sensing for Forest Monitoring" is free and open to the public.
The Doug Little Memorial Lecture series was initiated in 1996 by the Faculty of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies at UNBC and named for the late J.D. Little, who was a former executive with Northwood Pulp and Timber Ltd., and was a founding supporter of UNBC.
The lecture takes place Thursday, Nov. 1 at UNBC's Canfor Theatre at 7:30 p.m.
