The Allen Coral Atlas is led by Asner Lab to map and monitor the world’s coral reefs using satellites and field programs. Coral reefs are among the most important ecosystems on our planet. A few facts: at least 25% of marine species depend on coral reefs at some point in their life cycle. More than […]
As our oceans continue to warm and to experience heat waves caused by climate change, it is critically important to understand and continuously update our knowledge on where corals persist. Natural reef ecosystems are the most important and geographically extensive homes for remaining corals, but other places may also harbor corals over the coming decades […]
CoralSpec, which is short for Coral Spectranomics, is a project to develop a spectral and chemical library of the critical, habitat-forming coral species of our planet. This project aims to visit as many coral reefs as possible to collect field-based spectral measurements and samples for subsequent chemical analyses in our laboratory. This global field program […]
Understanding ecological systems at a global or regional scale is a complex problem, requiring the integration of a wide variety of different sources and types of data. Asner Lab uses an array of approaches to address this challenge, many of which enhance human-scale analyses with machine intelligence. Guided by project-specific experts, artificial intelligence (A.I.) allows […]
Mapping the biodiversity and functioning of forests and coral reefs is critical to understanding how best to conserve and manage them in a changing world. Advanced Global Airborne Observatory (GAO) mapping technology has reached performance levels required for operational monitoring of forest and reef biodiversity and functional properties from the air. However, spectral-chemical libraries are […]
The Global Airborne Observatory (GAO), formerly the Carnegie Airborne Observatory (CAO), is an airborne laboratory developed by Dr. Greg Asner and his team that houses advanced Earth mapping technology. The GAO’s mission is to make scientific discoveries, support conservation, and galvanize action to protect the environment at large geographic scales. Now in its third generation, […]