By opening up its API, UrtheCast has made it possible for Global Forest Watch (GFW) to incorporate high-resolution UrtheCast imagery into the GFW monitoring platform, helping people study changes in forests across the planet. As reported by GFW, about 30 percent of the globe is covered in forest, and high-res satellite imagery — like that provided by UrtheCast — remains a key factor in the effective monitoring of that forested land.
In partnership with GFW, UrtheCast offers imagery from three sensors, for free: UrtheCast’s 5m-res sensor, Theia, UrtheCast’s Deimos-1 satellite, and NASA’s Landsat 8. The entirety of this data is pulled from the UrtheCast API. Currently available on the GFW platform is imagery acquired between 2013 and 2016; an archive that is continuously updated with newly acquired imagery.
Already, UrtheCast data has been used to confirm the results of a University of Maryland study, proving that clearing for rubber plantations has severely degraded Cambodia’s once widespread forests
To learn more about the use of UrtheCast data on the GFW platform, visit the Global Forest Watch blog, or email us at media@urthecast.com.