Detecting Land Degradation Using Geospatial Data
Publication year
Resource type
UNCCD Library
Learn more about using Digital Earth Africa to monitor land degradation in Apamprama Forest Reserve, Ghana using satellite data accessed through the DE Africa Open Data Cube.
The Apamprama Forest Reserve in central Ghana is a forested area housing a portion of the Ofin river, interspersed with volumes of semi-deciduous trees and medicinal herbs. The reserve also contains rich gold deposits.
The reserve represents an important Ghanaian ecosystem and a source of great biodiversity.
Ghana's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Ghana Statistics Service (GSS) wanted to use electro-optical satellite data to better understand the health of the reserve's ecosystem and identify factors that were adversely affecting the environment.
"Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss"
Digital Earth Africa (DE Africa) provides free access to open source satellite imagery data and tools for data analysis via the DE Africa Open Data Cube.
Users of any background and skill-level can access browser based imagery and data over any part of Africa and analyse it for bespoke results, tailored to their interests.
Simple RGB electro-optical imagery, accessed through the DE Africa Open Data Cube, demonstrated the extensive land degradation that occurred in Apamprama Forest Reserve between 2017 and 2021.
The land degradation and subsequent biodiversity loss is likely a result of gold mining in the protected reserve.
Without easy access to satellite data through the DE Africa Open Data Cube, the overall scale of land degradation and biodiversity loss issues in Apamprama Forest Reserve, would have remained unknown to the EPA and GSS.
After identifying land degradation as the primary issue facing Apamprama Forest Reserve, additional data analysis was needed to better understand the year-by-year environmental changes and to formulate a plan to halt the degradation.
READ further from the source above
The Apamprama Forest Reserve in central Ghana is a forested area housing a portion of the Ofin river, interspersed with volumes of semi-deciduous trees and medicinal herbs. The reserve also contains rich gold deposits.
The reserve represents an important Ghanaian ecosystem and a source of great biodiversity.
Ghana's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Ghana Statistics Service (GSS) wanted to use electro-optical satellite data to better understand the health of the reserve's ecosystem and identify factors that were adversely affecting the environment.
"Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss"
Digital Earth Africa (DE Africa) provides free access to open source satellite imagery data and tools for data analysis via the DE Africa Open Data Cube.
Users of any background and skill-level can access browser based imagery and data over any part of Africa and analyse it for bespoke results, tailored to their interests.
Simple RGB electro-optical imagery, accessed through the DE Africa Open Data Cube, demonstrated the extensive land degradation that occurred in Apamprama Forest Reserve between 2017 and 2021.
The land degradation and subsequent biodiversity loss is likely a result of gold mining in the protected reserve.
Without easy access to satellite data through the DE Africa Open Data Cube, the overall scale of land degradation and biodiversity loss issues in Apamprama Forest Reserve, would have remained unknown to the EPA and GSS.
After identifying land degradation as the primary issue facing Apamprama Forest Reserve, additional data analysis was needed to better understand the year-by-year environmental changes and to formulate a plan to halt the degradation.
READ further from the source above
Keywords
Africa
ecosystems restoration
science and technology
space-based observations
climate change adaptation
drought
disaster risk reduction
land degradation
Ghana
facts and figures