![]() indicative High Carbon Stock (HCS) map that identifies forests with high conservation value and areas where deforestation would cause the highest carbon emissions'' (4). The EcoVisionLab, part of the the Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Group at ETH Zurich, teamed up with Barry Callebaut, a leading manufacturer or high-quality chocolate, leading to the development of “a large-scale, publicly available. The goal of NCX is to “build a data library and powerful AI tools that can provide an up-to-date map of US forests for the first time in history,” enabling “data-driven management for biodiversity, carbon sequestration and other services provided by forests” (18) (28). Their AI-powered algorithm “greatly reduces the amount of fieldwork needed to accurately assess forests'' (18). ![]() NCX, formerly known as SilviaTerra, an AI for Earth grantee, came up with a software-based approach to assess forests using satellite imagery and machine learning (18). But start-ups, multi-national corporations, research labs, and NGOs around the world are finding better ways to conduct forest inventories and deforestation monitoring. Historical forest inventory techniques involve on-the-ground measurements of small “sample” plots and statistical sampling in order to estimate the forest as a whole (18). Taking forest inventories is traditionally labor-intensive, with foresters manually counting thousands of acres of trees, as well as slow, costly, and occasionally unreliable (21). A common link between those working to advance forest sustainability around the globe is the need for accurate forest inventories in order to understand and make decisions supporting their management goals, whether for conservation or extraction purposes. To help answer the question: How can we leverage existing forest methodology with AI?, Microsoft created AI for Earth, which makes Microsoft’s AI expertise and technology available to those working in the areas of climate, hydrology, biodiversity, and agriculture (18). Leveraging Existing Forest Inventory with AI A forest is considered a sink if it stores more carbon than it loses in a given year. A carbon sink describes “the natural reservoir that accumulates and stores sequestered carbon”, which can both gain (sequestration) and lose (e.g. A forest’s carbon stock is the total amount of carbon that has been sequestered from the atmosphere and is now stored within the forest ecosystem, including living biomass, soil, and even dead wood and litter (9). The Amazon is an example of what one would call a carbon sink, and contains a high carbon stock. The Amazon region alone holds about 20% of the total carbon contained in the world’s terrestrial vegetation (6). Carbon sequestration is the process of removing or capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, whether by natural or artificial means. Forests are the major terrestrial ecosystem responsible for carbon sequestration and storage. Through the application of AI, forest mapping and monitoring systems are becoming better equipped to map and monitor carbon stocks, emissions, and biomass at higher spatial and temporal resolutions, to support more sustainable forest management and use (1) Carbon Stocks and Sinksįorests are critically important for removing carbon from the atmosphere, producing oxygen, and supporting the majority of Earth’s biodiversity. Identifying and monitoring forests with strong conservation value and high carbon stock is also a huge leverage point for targeted intervention of Artificial Intelligence (AI). ![]() Mapping and monitoring global forests are crucial to understanding how to properly manage and protect them, especially in monitoring wildfires and illegal deforestation, as well as knowing which forests to prioritize preserving. Managing and conserving forest resources remains a top priority, especially in the face of a rapidly changing climate and growing population, but “we need a clearer picture of the current state of the planet’s natural systems how they are changing and what the most effective intervention strategies are” (18). ![]() In recent years, we’ve witnessed the shocking imagery of Australia, the western United States, Europe, and the Amazon rainforest engulfed in flames, the unprecedented intensity, duration, and extent of the fires inflicting irreversible damage on countries, economies, ecosystems, and the atmosphere. Global forests cover about 30% of the world’s land surface and hold great value for both humans and the environment (8).
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