New Google tool may revolutionize forest monitoring

Google has launched a revolutionary new tool that is likely to prove invaluable for the monitoring of forest cover and other ecosystem aspects.

Complex data made accessible online

Global satellite imagery is a widely used technique and efficient tool for forest monitoring; however, making all of this data available is a laborious task. 

Analyzing and transforming large amounts of this data into a useful form requires huge processing power – even the data storage needs “Google-sized” systems. 
According to Google, Google Earth Engine makes "trillions of scientific measurements" available online, and  offers tools and computing power for quick data analysis by scientists and governments around the world. 

“This will be a revolution in forest monitoring for stakeholders,” says Hando Hain, Manager of NEPCon’s Research & Development Division, “Google is making huge volumes of data available that can be used for tracking and documenting developments over the last twenty five or so years.” 

The system is built to be updated on a daily basis. The vision is that in the future, any stakeholder with access to the Internet will be able to gain almost real-time information on the rate of deforestation; individual stakeholders will no longer need to interpret mysterious rows of data or strange map layers in complicated formats.

This is possible because of Google’s enormous computational muscle enabling the system to chew on massive amounts of data, and deliver results in a fraction of the time that would normally be required for the task.

Satellite doesn't lie

“The importance of this tool cannot be overstated. In addition to other dire consequences of deforestation, forest loss accounts for about 17% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. Google Earth Engine can be an excellent tool for ensuring the credibility of REDD+ activities and related impact claims,” continues Mr. Hain. 

“Deforestation is one of the most planet-unfriendly developments of humankind. Public and private organizations are striving to halt it, yet this work has been often hampered by lack of access to easily available, reliable and understandable data.” 

“One of the virtues of satellite imagery is that it cannot lie or manipulate figures – it provides firm, unquestionable evidence. Once we can all log on and see the development for ourselves, it will be easier to confirm or disprove claims about destructive behavior. This tool will doubtlessly prove to be instrumental in protecting the world’s forests and fighting climate change.”

Global Forest Registry to benefit from the Earth Engine

Mr. Hain explains that Google Earth Engine will be a very valuable tool, providing an important source of data for the Global Forest Registry managed by NEPCon, FSC and the Rainforest Alliance. 

The Global Forest Registry offers free, online information about the risk of sourcing controversial wood from various regions and areas of the world. "Google Earth Engine will form an excellent source for verifying some claims about the risk status of a certain area,” says Mr. Hain. 

The Earth Engine can be used for tracking deforestation as well as other developments in the world's ecosystems. Google is working with a range of scientific institutions to further develop this tool. The prototype was introduced at the COP15 Climate Summit in Copenhagen in 2009 and the more developed version at the COP16 in Cancun in 2010. While the tool is still under development, it currently offers five examples, demonstrating the processing capabilities of the Earth Engine platform and how the results can be made available to stakeholders in user-friendly format.

Google Earth Engine is a project of Google.org, part of Google's philanthropic arm. Google states that it "is committed to contribute significant resources, including 1% of Google's equity and profits in some form, as well as employee time, to address some of the world's most urgent problems". 

Source: Google Blog, Science Insider, Contra Costa Times