Geo4Dev Workshop: Woody Cover Estimation in Brazil using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Data
Workers in the Brazilian Forest.
The Geo4Dev Workshop series features novel applications of geospatial analysis and how they can help inform social science and public policy-related questions. The workshops teach students, faculty, and other members of our global intellectual community how to integrate these approaches into their research, and introduce practitioners at NGOs, government agencies, and industry to new geospatial analytics they can incorporate into their decision-making processes.
This workshop, led by Xiaoxuan (Shawn) Li, will guide users through the steps to combine publicly accessible Airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data to estimate woody cover in Brazil. The workshop will cover data types and preprocessing, model estimation and selection, visualization of predictions, and uncertainty calculations. Xiaoxuan (Shawn) Li and his coauthors developed this approach as part of their 2023 paper in Remote Sensing of Environment, “Quantifying the sensitivity of L-Band SAR to a decade of vegetation structure changes in savannas”.
This workshop serves as a postlude to CEGA’s annual Measuring Development (MeasureDev) conference. MeasureDev 2024: AI, the Next Generation will showcase how generative AI and foundational models are being used for social impact.
This is an in-person workshop only. Please bring your own laptop to this workshop. No prior work is expected, but foundational knowledge of R will be required for the workshop. Please reach out to Fiona Kastel (fkastel@3ieimpact.org) if you would like to participate but are unsure if you meet this prerequisite.
About the Instructor
Xiaoxuan (Shawn) Li is a Research And Development Associate at New Light Technologies (NLT). He graduated from George Mason University with a PhD in Earth Systems and Geoinformation Sciences. He is interested in several research projects, such as natural hazard risk assessment, vegetation structure and carbon estimation, and woody cover monitoring.
