Mother Earth is changing, not least because of climate change and human activities (deforestation, urban development, etc.). This includes environmental destruction such as forest fires and floods. As in other areas, it naturally helps when researchers have access to a variety of information and data. On the one hand to examine the effects, but on the other hand to develop solution strategies.
While it used to be difficult to access detailed and, above all, up-to-date ground cover data, it has become easier today. In cooperation with the World Resources Institute (WRI), Google is also involved and has developed Dynamic World. Here, satellite images are used to provide useful information for quantifying changes. For example, it can be determined how much of a region is covered with soil and water types such as wetlands, forests, agricultural crops, but also trees and urban development.
Google relies on the Google Earth Engine and an AI platform to deliver land cover data globally and in near real-time with Dynamic World. With a level of detail of ten meters, you can get very precise information about various conditions. Among them: are forests in the Amazon region, agriculture in Asia, urban development in Europe, but also seasonal water resources in North America.
While existing data sets have so far assigned a single type of land cover (trees, snow, etc.) to a land area and rely on what is most clearly visible on the satellite image, Dynamic World provides a more precise understanding. Nine types of land cover are identified and classified: water, flooded vegetation, built-up areas, trees, crops, bare ground, grass, shrubs/shrubs, and snow/ice.
Plans for the protection, management, or even restoration of countries are to be developed on the basis of the data, and their effectiveness is to be monitored. On the one hand, as already mentioned, the data from Dynamic World is more detailed, but on the other hand, it also provides changes within a specific day, week, or month. Due to its topicality, events such as snowstorms, forest fires and volcanic eruptions can be analyzed within a very short time and their extent quantified.
Researchers can also use machine learning models to create their own maps and thus understand crop yields or even longer-term trends such as ecosystem changes. Dynamic World is an open and freely available dataset. Google is giving scientists, researchers, governments and companies a powerful tool. Even as a private person, with the appropriate know-how, you can certainly gain some knowledge.
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