Case Study: Using high resolution JERS-1 radar imagery to detect flooding in rainforest

In moist rainforests, river water levels can rise around six feet or more in the rainy season. The effect of this is rivers and creeks extending well beyond their banks. This affects both the ecology, carbon sequestration budgets and the sustainable use of rainforests (e.g. road planning). But because of the dense tree cover, it can be near impossible to map such flooding over extensive areas using conventional means.

A project was undertaken in collaboration with researchers from NASA JPL and USDA FS IITF to delineate the understorey flooding in 3,700 sq. km of rainforest in central Guyana using canopy-penetrating satellite radar and a GIS. The project was a success and a model of international cooperation, and the technical results are described in a paper that has been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication by a remote sensing journal.

Case Study: Using high resolution IKONOS imagery in a Sea Defences Information System

A project was conducted to rectify high-resolution IKONOS imagery to sub-metre accuracy for use by the Guyana Sea Defences 4SHORE GIS. Image Ground Control Points were selected and a high-precision differential GPS ground survey of those points was managed (the survey was executed by the Guyana Lands & Surveys Commission). Rectification was done using ERDAS^® Imagine.