Technology that enables scientists to catalogue a rainforest's biodiversity in stunning detail by airplane was highlighted in a recent TED talk.

 

Speaking at TED Global in Edinburgh, Scotland this past June, researcher Greg Asner explained the science behind his ground-breaking forest mapping platform: the Carnegie Airborne Observatory (CAO), an airplane packed with advanced chemical and optical sensors. CAO allows Asner and his team to conduct extremely high-resolution "x-rays" of tropical forests, revealing information on their species richness, health, and ecosystem function. The system can also be used detect forest disturbance on an individual tree scale, revealing activities such as selective logging that would otherwise remain hidden from satellites and other conventional methods for monitoring forests.

 

Asner has used the system to map forests in Panama, Colombia, Peru, South Africa, Madagascar, and the United States.