Measuring the Planet 2013
Faye attended the first Astrotrop Conference on 30th -31st October. It was held at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh and was the first of its kind, introducing a collaboration between astronomers and global change scientists. This is an innovative new project which aims to emulate the ‘Virtual Observatory’ designed and used by the astronomy world, in order to produce a ‘Pan-Tropical Forest Observatory’ which will allow researchers to access multiple layers of data from around the globe using one tool.
There is existing software developed and used by members of the Astro Grid and Euro-VO network for astronomers. There are definite parallels between tropical biodiversity scientists and astronomers, not least the complex and data intensive computing they both often require –
There are roughly 200 billion stars in the Milky Way and 400 billion trees on Planet Earth.
This project aims to address some of the problems faced by combining experience and knowledge between the disciplines.
Presentations were given by several participants and covered various subjects including: Astro Grid and VO software, forest mapping, REDD forest sensors and area mapping. There was also a brief presentation from the stakeholders and policy makers who were present, these were from companies including: Global Canopy (a charitable organisation), Ecometrica, Rezatec and Skye Instruments. It is hoped that this project may lead to the possibility of the development of new commercial products that will give UK industry a world lead in global and national observatory technology.
