Table Of ContentContributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11759.html
C ONTRIBUTIONS OF
LAND REMOTE SENSING
FOR DECIS IONS ABOUT
FOOD SECURITY AND
HUMAN HEALTH
WOR k S h O p R E p O R T
Committee on the Earth System Science for Decisions About Human Welfare:
Contributions of Remote Sensing
Geographical Sciences Committee
Board on Earth Sciences and Resources
Division on Earth and Life Studies
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
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Contributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11759.html
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS • 500 Fifth Street, N.W. • Washington, DC 20001
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the
Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn
from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy
of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee
responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with
regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Award No. W24736; U.S. Department of Agriculture Award No. 59-0790-3-194;
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention Award No. 200-2000-00629, Task Order No. 18; and U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency Award No. 4W-3838-NALX. Any opinions, fndings, and con-
clusions or recommendations contained in this document are those of the authors
and do not necessarily refect the views of the agencies that provided support for
the project. Mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations does
not constitute their endorsement by the sponsoring agencies.
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Cover: A choropleth map showing levels of poverty in northern and western
Kenya fades into a satellite image showing the color of the Earth’s surface in
northern Tanzania. Kenya poverty gap index map courtesy of the Center for
International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University.
Satellite imagery courtesy of NASA.
Copyright 2007 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Contributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11759.html
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonproft, self-perpetuating
society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientifc and engineering research,
dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the
general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress
in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal govern-
ment on scientifc and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the
National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the char-
ter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstand-
ing engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its
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s ponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages
education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers.
Dr. Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of
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the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Insti-
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V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of
S ciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology
with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal
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Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the
National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in pro-
viding services to the government, the public, and the scientifc and engineering
communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the
Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Wm. A. Wulf are chair and
vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.
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Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Contributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11759.html
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Contributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11759.html
COMMITTEE ON EARTH SySTEM SCIENCE FOR
DECISIONS AbOuT HuMAN WELFARE:
CONTRIbuTIONS OF REMOTE SENSINg
RUTH S. DeFRIES, Chair, University of Maryland, College Park
ROBERTA BALSTAD, Columbia University, Palisades, New York
RITA COLWELL, University of Maryland, College Park
TOM P. EVANS, Indiana University, Bloomington
NINA S.-N. LAM, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge
JOEL MICHAELSEN, University of California, Santa Barbara
KAREN SETO, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
MARK L. WILSON, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
National Research Council Staff
SAMMANTHA MAGSINO, Study Director (since February 2006)
HEDY J. ROSSMEISSL, Study Director (through February 2006)
PEGGY TSAI, Associate Program Offcer
AMANDA M. ROBERTS, Senior Project Assistant (through August 2006)
JARED P. ENO, Senior Project Assistant (since August 2006)
v
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Contributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report
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gEOgRAPHICAL SCIENCES COMMITTEE
ROGER M. DOWNS, Chair, Pennsylvania State University,
University Park
BRIAN J. L. BERRY, University of Texas, Dallas
SUSAN L. CUTTER, University of South Carolina, Columbia
RUTH S. DeFRIES, University of Maryland, College Park
WILLIAM E. EASTERLING III, Pennsylvania State University,
University Park
PATRICIA GOBER, Arizona State University, Tempe
MICHAEL F. GOODCHILD, University of California, Santa Barbara
SUSAN HANSON, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts
JONATHAN D. MAYER, University of Washington, Seattle
EMILIO F. MORAN, Indiana University, Bloomington
DAVID L. SKOLE, Michigan State University, East Lansing
National Research Council Staff
PAUL M. CUTLER, Senior Program Offcer
VERNA J. BOWEN, Financial and Administrative Associate
vi
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Contributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11759.html
bOARD ON EARTH SCIENCES AND RESOuRCES
GeORGe M. HORNBeRGeR, Chair, University of Virginia, Charlottesville
M. Lee ALLISON, Arizona Geological Survey, Tucson
GREGORY B. BAECHER, University of Maryland, College Park
STeVeN R. BOHLeN, Joint Oceanographic Institutions, Washington, D.C.
KEITH C. CLARKE, University of California, Santa Barbara
DAVID J. COWeN, University of South Carolina, Columbia
ROGER M. DOWNS, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
JEFF DOZIER, University of California, Santa Barbara
KATHeRINe H. FReeMAN, Pennsylvania State University,
University Park
RHeA L. GRAHAM, Pueblo of Sandia, Bernalillo, New Mexico
ROBYN HANNIGAN, Arkansas State University, State University
MURRAY W. HITZMAN, Colorado School of Mines, Golden
V. RAMA MURTHY, University of Minnesota (retired), Corrales, NM
RAYMOND A. PRICe, Queen’s University, Ontario, Canada
BARBARA A. ROMANOWICZ, University of California, Berkeley
JOAQUIN RUIZ, University of Arizona, Tucson
MARK SCHAeFeR, Global Environment and Technology Foundation,
Arlington, Virginia
RUSSeLL e. STANDS-OVeR-BULL, BP American Production Company,
Pryor, Montana
BILLIe L. TURNeR II, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts
TERRY C. WALLACE, Jr., Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico
STePHeN G. WeLLS, Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nevada
THOMAS J. WILBANKS, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee
National Research Council Staff
ANTHONY R. De SOUZA, Director
PAUL M. CUTLER, Senior Program Offcer
ELIZABETH A. EIDE, Senior Program Offcer
DAVID A. FEARY, Senior Program Offcer
ANNE M. LINN, Senior Program Offcer
ANN G. FRAZIER, Program Offcer
SAMMANTHA MAGSINO, Program Offcer
RONALD F. ABLER, Senior Scholar
CAETLIN M. OFIESH, Research Associate
VERNA J. BOWEN, Financial and Administrative Assistant
JENNIFER T. ESTEP, Financial Associate
JARED P. ENO, Senior Program Assistant
NICHOLAS D. ROGERS, Senior Program Assistant
vii
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Contributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11759.html
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Contributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11759.html
Preface
he National Research Council (NRC) Committee on Geographical
Sciences frst considered a study on remote sensing for human
Twelfare several years ago. Since then, the world has witnessed
the tsunami of 2004, Hurricane Katrina of 2005, wildfres in the west-
ern United States damaging human lives and property, emergence of
diseases such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and avian
infuenza, and entrenched chronic poverty and hunger in many parts of
the world. These occurrences add to an already long list of human welfare
concerns that intricately link land use, environmental conditions, and
vulnerabilities of human populations. Effective decisions about human
welfare—how to foresee changing environmental conditions on the land
surface with negative outcomes for human welfare, where and when to
respond, how to foster land use and development policies that enhance
human welfare—inevitably depend on understanding and communicat-
ing these complex linkages.
Coming decades will see major changes in the numbers, distribution,
and lifestyles of human populations; climate and other environmental con-
ditions; and land use in response to both economic demands and altered
environments. These vast transformations challenge the scientifc commu-
nity to understand complex linkages between environmental conditions
and human access to food, water, healthy living conditions, and other
aspects of human welfare—and to transfer this understanding into usable
information. Remote sensing data offer one piece in this multifaceted
puzzle. Combined with other data, remote sensing reveals interactions
over space and time that simply cannot be observed from the ground.
ix
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Contributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11759.html
x pRefaCe
This report offers examples that illustrate the possibilities of address-
ing agency objectives to apply remote sensing for societal beneft. Beyond
these illustrative examples, the report summarizes workshop discussions
on the opportunities and challenges in moving toward the long-term
goal of integrating land remote sensing into decision making on a range
of human welfare decisions. The committee organized this workshop to
consider the potential, recognizing that the scientifc community has only
begun to address the opportunities. The workshop was one of many stepping
stones to bring together multiple perspectives from different disciplines to
transfer this potential into reality.
The workshop and this report would not have been possible without
the hard and dedicated work of the organizing committee and the work-
shop participants. In addition, NRC staff provided the logistical support as
well as substantive contributions. Hedy J. Rossmeissl helped in develop-
ing the agenda and all aspects of organization. Sammantha Magsino and
Peggy Tsai contributed immensely in drafting the report. Amanda Roberts
assisted at the workshop and behind the scenes. This report is the product
of the combined talents of all of these individuals. We hope that it serves
as a launching point for many scientifc endeavors, interactions with deci-
sion makers, and applications that harness the capabilities of land remote
sensing to advance human welfare.
Ruth S. DeFries
Chair
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
