Laser-air mapping the Amazon?? Awesome!!!

Scientist form the  department of Ecology at the Carnegie Institution for Science, based at Stanford University, developed a technology able to map from five thousand meters above the Amazonian forest.  This technology works bouncing laser beams 400,000 times per second, over the forest.

The procedure is the next: The machine known as Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging), kept at a temperature of -131°C, bounces laser beams 400,000 times per second from a plane at five thousand meters above the forest, on a scanning speed of 360 sq km each hour, creating three-dimentional images. 

But why is it important?, what can we use it for?.  Well, this helps us mesure the biodiversity of the forest in a really short period of time, instead of parcelling (like we, the foresters, say) the whole forest, on foot. We can keep trak of how the forest is responding to droughs and monitores deforestation and degradation, etc… In other words: Critical information for the conservation of one of the most important ecosistems in the world!

The REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) initiative, the mos important founds resource for tropical conservation proyects, would totally use this kind of information:

            "Redd cannot exist without scientifically monitored data on carbon stock," said Asner, who may have invented the most efficient way of measuring it to date.

Hope you liked it.

Bye!