Coral reefs and their surrounding ecosystems, like seagrasses, are faced with a myriad of challenges due to both local and global stressors. To support the resilience of these vital marine ecosystems, countries have established marine protected area programs, safeguarding the species and habitats within designated regions of their coastlines. However, many nations […]
The Amazon rainforest is faced with daily forest loss and degradation, harming local biodiverse ecosystems. This study from Conservation International, Boise State University, and the University of Guyana, demonstrates how scientists can monitor the drivers of this deforestation, including gold mining, with PlanetScope imagery. By capturing satellite images of remote locations near […]
Acadia National Park, located in Maine, is a popular tourist destination year round. However, with repeated visitor use, the native plants in the park can be altered or degraded. To address this, management efforts are put in place to protect the vegetation. Using Planet satellite data, scientists from the University of Maine […]
Due to the devastating impacts of COVID-19, citizens around the world are now familiar with the global health challenges caused by virus spillover events – when a pathogen travels from one host species to another such as a bat to a human. As human populations continue to grow and move into wildlife […]
The Sabancaya volcano sits in the southern Peruvian Andes. Records of eruptions there span back hundreds of years, making it a site of interest to volcanologists around the world. A new study by a team of Italian and Peruvian scientists led by Dr. Diego Coppola at the Università Degli Studi Di Torino […]
Urban parks in desert areas often use copious amounts of water for maintaining grass and trees. In Phoenix, Arizona, two primary irrigation methods are used: sprinklers and flooding. A new study in Ecohydrology led by Mercedes Kindler compares the benefits and drawbacks of these methods. They also analyze the impact of using […]
On-farm reservoirs play a critical role in crop irrigation. They store water during the wet season for subsequent use for crop irrigation during the dry season. In the U.S. alone, there are an estimated 2.6 million such reservoirs. However, storing this water has poorly understood impacts on downstream hydrology and ecosystems. The […]
Satellite imagery can provide geologic context for scientific discoveries on the ground, such as sample location mapping for fossil discoveries. A new study led out of McGill University by Cortés et al. (2021) details the discovery of fossils in central Colombia that represent a new genus of ichthyosaur—large, long-extinct marine reptiles. Dubbed […]
Illegal sand mining is running rampant in the world due to the need for river sand as a binder in making concrete. Desert sand isn’t suitable for this purpose due to its shape. This illegal activity had led to the deaths of journalists, farmers, miners, and more, as well as causing ecological […]
Multiple studies have found that exposure to “greenspace” such as parks and forests has benefits to early childhood development. Some of these benefits include fewer behavioral problems, improved memory, and even better academic performance. However, the root explanations as to why these benefits happen are still not entirely clear. A new study […]
