Earth Observation
Resources
Ukraine: Ukrainian Drones Deliver Drinking Water to Villagers
International
Ukrainian soldiers have been using drones to deliver bottled water to desperate villagers trapped in the upper storeys of their homes by floods in Russian…
Ukraine: Kakhovka Dam Collapse Is an Environmental Catastrophe [Audio]
International
The collapse of the Kakhovka dam is an environmental catastrophe for people in southern Ukraine. Destroying a dam goes against international law. The World's Carol…
How Satellite Prevented a War for Water
Blog
Have you ever been really, really thirsty? Not just dry-mouthed in the middle of the night or longing for a cold drink after an afternoon…
DRC: Artisanal Cobalt Mining Swallowing City in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Satellite Imagery Shows
International
As officials around the world call for a transition to a greener economy, one city is being transformed to accommodate the growing demand for one…
Gender and Climate Change
International
In this chapter, I focus on the negative consequences of climate change for women’s rights. This chapter is divided into two parts. In the first…
Assessing Damage to Agricultural Fields from Military Actions in Ukraine: An Integrated Approach Using Statistical Indicators and Machine Learning
Briefs & Development
The ongoing full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to widespread damage of agricultural lands, jeopardizing global food security. Timely detection of impacted fields enables…
Afghanistan Drought Early Warning Decision Support (AF-DEWS) Tool
Briefs & Development
This report summarizes the development of the Afghanistan Drought Early Warning Decision Support (AF-DEWS) Tool, a cloud-based online platform with near real-time information on drought…
Toward the Remote Monitoring of Armed Conflicts
Briefs & Development
The war in Ukraine has pushed the role of satellite imagery in armed conflicts into the spotlight. For a long time, satellite images were primarily…
Using Machine Learning and Remote Sensing to Track Land Use/Land Cover Changes Due to Armed Conflict
Briefs & Development
Armed conflicts have detrimental impacts on the environment, including land systems. The prevailing understanding of the relation between Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) and armed conflict…
War and Deforestation: Using Remote Sensing and Machine Learning to Identify the War-Induced Deforestation in Syria 2010–2019
Briefs & Development
Armed conflicts and other types of violence are key drivers of human-induced landscape change. Since March 2011, Syria has been embroiled in a prolonged and…
Toxic Floods? Climate, Natural Hazards and Risks to South Sudan’s Oil Infrastructure
Briefs & Development
The discovery and subsequent exploitation of oil fields in South Sudan has brought the country both wealth and woes. Armed conflicts and civil wars fought over…
Indexing Climatic and Environmental Exposure of Refugee Camps with a Case Study in East Africa
Briefs & Development
This study presents a novel approach to systematically measure climatic and environmental exposure in refugee camps using remote sensing and geospatial data. Using a case…
Colombia: Use of GIS Tools for Land Expansion in Colombia
International
Local indigenous youngsters have mapped the boundaries and sacred sites of their village, Gunmaku in the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, northern Colombia, and the…
Afghanistan: Afghanistan Reels from Deadly Flash Floods and Landslides
International
Several provinces across the eastern, central, southern and western regions of Afghanistan have been hit by heavy rains, resulting in flash floods and landslides that…
Ukraine: Drones Are Sniffing out Landmines in Ukraine
International
The landmines that plague Ukraine following six months of drawn-out fighting have a new enemy as minesweeping teams get a boost from high-tech drones.
Colombia: Large Swath of Colombian Amazon Region Being Wiped out for Cattle Farms
International
Although the Colombian government and dissident rebel groups prohibit deforestation in the Guaviare department, the Amazon jungle that once covered nearly every inch of that…
Iraq: Satellite Imagery and Climate Change: Monitoring the Impact of Drought in Iraq [Photos]
International
The “land between two rivers” appears on the brink of desertification as extreme heat episodes induced by climate change exacerbate drought, itself linked to years…
Veterans Exposed to Agent Orange, Radiation, Toxic Water Included in Landmark Burn Pit Bill
International
In addition to improving access to benefits for post-9/11 veterans exposed to burn pits, the sweeping toxic exposure legislation approved 84-14 by the Senate on…
South Sudan: Satellite Images Reveal Nexus between War, Cropland Abandonment and Food Insecurity in South Sudan
International
A new study led by the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management at UCPH sheds light on a complex interaction of armed conflict, cropland…
DRC: Congolese Rebels Take Endangered Pangolin Hostage and Demand Ransom
International
Congolese rebels have captured an endangered pangolin and sent a ransom demand with “proof of life” pictures to conservationists who fear the incident could create…
Harnessing Drones, Geophysics and Artificial Intelligence to Root out Land Mines
International
Armed with a newly minted undergraduate degree in geology, Jasper Baur is in the mining business. Not those mines where we extract metals or minerals;…
Climate Change: Climate Change Related Conflicts Gradually Gripping Communities
International
The destructive nature of climate change impacts on ecological diversity are being witnessed around the globe. The climate-induced floods, hailstorms, droughts, heatwaves, hunger and famine,…
How Drones Are Impacting Land Mine Reduction Globally
International
In late November 2019, the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining organized the “Mine Action Technology Workshop,” where Humanity & Inclusion and Mobility Robotics presented data to…
DRC: Hard to Breathe: Gold Mining Damages Miners, Forests
International
Mining has ravaged the soil that locals had used to farm. So instead, they join the hunt for gold. And the consequences continue to mount…
New NASA Maps Will Help Liberia Chart Course for a Sustainable Future
Blog
Within Liberia’s borders lies one of the last strongholds of intact forests in West Africa. But as Liberia’s economy recovers following years of civil war, experts fear that these…
The Impact of Conflict-Driven Cropland Abandonment on Food Insecurity in South Sudan Revealed Using Satellite Remote Sensing
Briefs & Development
Armed conflicts often hinder food security through cropland abandonment and restrict the collection of on-the-ground information required for targeted relief distribution. Satellite remote sensing provides…
War, Waste and Polluted Pastures
Briefs & Development
The environment in north-east Syria has faced serious challenges since the outbreak of the peaceful revolution ten years ago. The ensuing violence by the Syrian…
Satellite Analysis of the Environmental Impacts of Armed-Conflict in Rakhine, Myanmar
Briefs & Development
The impacts of armed conflict on the environment are extremely complex and difficult to investigate, given the impossibility of accessing the affected area and reliable…
GIS in Colombian Post-Conflict Land Use Planning
Briefs & Development
This research collected and interpreted geographic and temporal data on changes in land use coverage in order to improve sustainable development and land use planning in…
Armed Conflict, Militarization and Ecological Footprint: Empirical Evidence from South Asia
Briefs & Development
Environmental degradation as a consequence of military activities largely remains a neglected subject, especially in South Asia. To fill this gap, we have investigated the…