GEOG Seminar 9/7: Dr. Compton J. Tucker, "Semi-arid Carbon Stocks of Trees Enabled by Commercial Satellite Imagery"

About the Speaker
Dr. Compton J. Tucker is a pioneering researcher in using satellite data to tackle challenges that span from global photosynthesis to land degradation. He has notably contributed to NASA's initiatives in Global Change and Space Archaeology. Recently, his work has been centered on mapping land degradation and assessing woody biomass in dry areas.

Seminar Highlights
In this seminar on tree ecology in semi-arid regions, Dr. Tucker will share insights from a collaborative study conducted with experts like Martin Brandt, Pierre Hiernaux, Ankit Kariryaa, and 26 others. Focusing primarily on sub-Saharan Africa, the team utilized 326,000 Maxar satellite images, 89,000 training datasets and 60 million core hours of high-performance computing. They mapped 10 billion tree crowns across an area of 10 million square kilometers at a 50 cm resolution. This study allowed estimating the carbon stock in this region with an uncertainty margin of ±20%. This cutting-edge research holds vital implications for ecological conservation, carbon management, and climate action, especially in dryland ecosystems. It also identifies gaps in current carbon cycle models, suggesting the need for more accurate data.

Location: For Zoom details, please visit our Department Calendar on Google.