High Resolution Satellite Issues

From measuring deforestation in the Amazon to melting icecaps at the poles, satellite images are an increasingly powerful tool for monitoring the health of the planet.  But this network of satellites we have come to rely on may be unraveling.  Government sponsored medium resolution satellites have been poorly maintained, causing an indefinite, and perhaps permanent, gap in medium resolution satellite image archives.  The task of launching satellites capable of recording high resolution images has been handed from the government to the private sector.  The implications of this for conservation are considerable.

What does a satellite image look like?  A few years ago – few people knew.  Today, anyone can click on Google Earth and experience the world through the eyes of our satellite network. Scientists use different satellites to measure different things.  Fly around with Google Earth and the earth looks like a patchwork quilt. Some lower resolution images become grainy quickly as you zoom in.  Others are detailed enough to make out houses and even people.

The detailed image patches on Google Earth represent an alternative to government run satellites. Private companies operate these satellites. Scott Loarie, Stuart Pimm and I recently published an article in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution, which investigated the current global distribution of these high resolution satellite images in the archives of private satellite companies.

For several thousand dollars, customers can request specific patches of land to be imaged. As a result, the patches on Google Earth are clustered around cities and borders. When we looked at where these private companies are imaging, we noticed that many of the places most important for protecting biodiversity – such as protected areas and tropical forests – are missing.  This is important because high resolution satellite technology holds great promise in the conservation biology arena.  Satellites that beam images at resolutions high enough to count elephants and decipher small-scale logging are necessary if the current era of satellite activism is to continue.

When people think of space technology, they tend to think of exploring Mars, but they forget the huge gains space technology has made towards fighting species extinction.  Without access to this technology, environmental scientists and advocates are severely hampered in their abilities to understand the most pressing issues in their fight to halt species’ extinctions. Environmental sciences are indebted to innovators such as GoogleEarth, GeoEye and other private satellite companies for rapidly increasing the availability of images for conservation purposes. However, finding innovative solutions for the long-term support, coordination and distribution of earth-observing products requires government leadership. Space exploration must not replace earth observation. We, the environmental community, must be more vigorous in urging this leadership.  

Collaborators:
Scott Loarie 
Stuart Pimm