Environmental Science
Monitoring Deforestation with Satellite Remote Sensing
Quick fact
A single satellite can generate a deforestation map of an entire country in days, a task that would take ground teams many years. Global forests have been monitored consistently from space since the 1970s.
Why this is interesting
Have you ever wondered how we know so precisely that the Amazon lost an area the size of a football pitch every minute? The answer lies hundreds of kilometres above our heads, watching the forests day and night.