|
Society for Conservation GIS WebinarsUpcoming Webinars:Advancing Conservation and Community Resilience with Thermal and Hyperspectral Remote Sensing: Applications from NASA’s ECOSTRESS and EMIT Missions (PART 2)December 2, 2025 3:00-4:00 pm Eastern / 12:00-1:00 pm Pacific
REGISTER NOW!
Advances in thermal infrared radiometry and hyperspectral imaging are revolutionizing how we observe and understand Earth’s environmental systems. These technologies provide detailed data on land surface temperatures, vegetation health, plant functional traits and phenology, water quality, and other critical indicators for tracking ecosystem change and climate impact. In this two-part SCGIS and NASA webinar series, we highlight real-world applications using data from two NASA instruments aboard the International Space Station: 1) Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) and 2) Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT). This upcoming webinar (Part 2 of this series) will first highlight the use of ECOSTRESS data for urban heat analysis and mitigation. It will then introduce conservation-related applications of EMIT data, including habitat as well as plant trait and diversity mapping. Finally, the last presentation will explore a combined use of both EMIT and ECOSTRESS data for assessing pre-wildfire risk in Los Angeles, California. 1- Dr. Glynn Hulley: NASA's Thermal Sensors Map Extreme Heat and Social Vulnerability in Cities Urban areas worldwide face escalating threats from extreme heat, a climate impact poised to become the most lethal and economically devastating of our time. Rising global temperatures are causing urban heatwaves to become longer, more frequent, and more severe, disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations. Thermal infrared (TIR) remote sensing data at <100m scales enables quantification of surface urban heat and distinguishes temperatures of different urban materials for planning and mitigation efforts. NASA TIR missions such as ECOSTRESS (launched 2018) and upcoming European TIR missions including LSTM (ESA), and TRISHNA (CNES-ISRO), will provide unprecedented high-resolution, multispectral, twice-daily global TIR data by the end of the decade. This webinar will focus on the use of spaceborne ECOSTRESS (<70m) and airborne HyTES (<5m) TIR data to better understand urban heat environments with links to societal applications. We will show examples of the use of these data for investigating diurnal heat exposure patterns, burn risk mapping, quantifying heat mitigation interventions, and modeling the cooling potential of cities. Dr. Hulley is a member of the Biosphere group at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with 20 years of experience in thermal infrared remote sensing spectroscopy. His research interests include multi- and hyperspectral thermal infrared remote sensing of Earth surface properties including water use and geology, urban climate science, and investigating links between extreme heat and public health. He is principal investigator for the development and validation of standard NASA Land Surface Temperature (LST) and emissivity products for MODIS, VIIRS, ASTER and Landsat, and is the level-2 thermal lead for the ECOSTRESS mission. 2- Dr. Dana Chadwick: EMIT Spectroscopy for Sustainable Land and Conservation Practices The Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) mission has collected billions of visible to shortwave infrared spectra globally, extending its utility significantly beyond its primary goal of dust source investigation. The data, hosted by the Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC), provides high-quality reflectance retrievals that are highly versatile for applied science, particularly in conservation and environmental management. Applications include biodiversity monitoring, forest management and fire risk assessment, and addressing environmental pollution. This talk will highlight a variety of conservation-related studies showcasing the practical application of EMIT data across diverse landscapes and environmental challenges. As EMIT continues its extended mission, its expanded data acquisition promises to be a crucial asset for informed, data-driven decision-making in global conservation efforts. Dr. Chadwick is a Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who researches the interconnections among ecosystems, critical zone processes, and the evolution of landscapes. Her work utilizes imaging spectroscopy and lidar, extensive field sampling campaigns, and laboratory analyses to uncover spatial distributions of ecosystem characteristics and link these patterns to underlying processes. She is the Mission Applications Lead for the NASA Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) mission. She received her Ph.D. in Earth System Science from Stanford University. 3- Megan Ward-Baranyay: Using EMIT and ECOSTRESS Sensors to Assess Wildfire Burn Severity Hazard in Los Angeles County, California Characterization and monitoring of pre-fire conditions that drive wildfire severity are critical to support proactive wildfire management. The destructive wildfires that impacted Los Angeles County’s populated wildland-urban interface (WUI) in early 2025 highlighted the urgent need to understand what drives -severe fires, as wildfire risk grows and WUI areas expand across California. Using random forest modeling and data from NASA’s ECOSTRESS and EMIT sensors, we examined how fuels conditions, fire weather, and topography influenced burn severity for three of the January 2025 wildfires. Our analysis identified pre-fire fuels conditions as dominant drivers of burn severity. These findings demonstrate a promising pathway for assessing drivers of wildfire burn severity and offer actionable insights to support proactive land management decisions. Megan Ward-Baranyay’s research focuses on multi-sensor remote sensing of wildland fire in Mediterranean California foothills. Megan is a Geography PhD student in the Joint Doctoral Program between San Diego State University and University of California, Santa Barbara. Megan advocates for translating science to action and supporting early-career research education. Past Webinars:Advancing Conservation and Community Resilience with Thermal and Hyperspectral Remote Sensing: Applications from NASA’s ECOSTRESS and EMIT Missions (PART 1) - Nov 5, 2025 4:00 - 5:00 PM EasternAdvances in thermal infrared radiometry and hyperspectral imaging are revolutionizing how we observe and understand Earth’s environmental systems. These technologies provide detailed data on land surface temperatures, vegetation health, plant functional traits and phenology, water quality, and other critical indicators for tracking ecosystem change and climate impact. In this two-part webinar series, we highlight real-world applications using data from two NASA instruments aboard the International Space Station: 1) Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) and 2) Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT). Part 1 will explore the use of ECOSTRESS data for monitoring coral reefs in Belize and assessing drought resilience in Arizona, USA. It will also highlight key takeaways from a new NASA-funded project that is helping college and university students and teachers learn how to work with and communicate discoveries from data acquired from the ECOSTRESS mission. Speaker line-up: 1- Dr. Ileana Galdamez, Biola University: Improving Coral Reef Monitoring and Risk Assessment using High Resolution Thermal Data from ECOSTRESS Coral reefs are vital marine ecosystems that support biodiversity, fisheries, and coastal protection. However, they are increasingly threatened by rising ocean temperatures, with the most recent global bleaching event occurring in 2023–2024. This study examined the relationship between observed coral bleaching events using in-situ data from Belize and NOAA’s satellite-based thermal stress alert data (Coral Reef Watch; CRW). While the CRW alerts generally correlated with bleaching severity, their coarse 5-km resolution limited the detection of localized temperature extremes. By incorporating high-resolution ECOSTRESS Land Surface Temperature (LST) data, we detected finer-scale temperature anomalies and microclimates—particularly during the 2023 Belize heatwave—that were not captured by CRW. Our results underscore the importance of high-resolution thermal imagery for improving coral reef monitoring, risk assessment, and management in a warming climate. Dr. Ileana Galdamez is an Assistant Professor at Biola University and a NASA Postdoctoral Fellow at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the Water & Ecosystems group. She earned her Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from UCLA. Prior to joining JPL, she taught biology courses at Biola University and Mount Saint Mary’s University. She collaborates with institutions such as the Belize Coastal Zone Management Authority & Institute and the Belize Wildlife Conservation Society to use satellite remote sensing for coastal water quality monitoring. 2- Dr. Temuulen Tsagaan Sankey, Northern Arizona University: ECOSTRESS Data Reveal how Semi-Arid Forest Restoration Enhances Drought Resilience Semi-arid forests across the western United States are experiencing severe drought and wildfires. Forest thinning is increasingly used as a forest restoration and management strategy used to improve ecosystem health and reduce further wildfire risk. This study analyzes ECOSTRESS-derived land surface temperature (LST) and evapotranspiration (ET) data in a semi-arid forest affected by both severe regional drought and forest thinning. ECOSTRESS data revealed significant impacts on both LST and ET from forest thinning practices, drought, and their combination. First, thinned forests were hotter than non-thinned forests. Second, thinned forests had lower rates of evapotranspiration, leading to greater soil moisture availability for plants, making thinned forests more resilient to drought. The presentation highlights the potential for ECOSTRESS LST and ET data to examine impacts of regional drought and of forest management strategies across large spatial extents in semi-arid ponderosa pine forests. Dr. Sankey studies semi-arid and arid environments using remote sensing techniques. She uses spaceborne, airborne, and ground-based images as well as lidar data to quantify environmental changes associated with climate drivers and land management. In Arizona, Dr. Sankey and her lab group combine various remote sensing data sources with in situ measurements to examine the impacts of forest management efforts on the forest ecohydrological cycle and on ecosystem drought resilience. 3- Dr. Joshua Fisher, Chapman University: I.C.E. C.R.E.A.M.: Integrating Communication of ECOSTRESS into Community Research, Education, Applications, and Media How do we empower the next generation to use remote sensing data to engage in observing and diagnosing our planet? One of the most effective means of growing the impact of remote sensing data is to conduct and communicate research directly through education using emerging current events. Here, we describe a new class developed specifically to empower students to track climate disasters around the world within weeks, creating a sense of identity, inspiration, and aspiration with advanced pedagogical methods. The curriculum materials, which include a combination of science, engineering, art, and journalism, have been distributed worldwide and are now adopted by multiple universities and individual users. We focus on NASA’s ECOSTRESS thermal instrument on the International Space Station. Student work has been published widely throughout NASA and the scientific literature and has set the students up to obtain internships at NASA. Dr. Joshua B. Fisher is a Climate Scientist focusing on terrestrial ecosystems, water, carbon, and nutrient cycling using a combination of remote sensing, supercomputer models, and field campaigns from the Amazon to the Arctic, with applications in water and ecosystem management, food security, wildfire, and environmental justice. He completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees from UC Berkeley and his postdoctoral work from the University of Oxford. Dr. Fisher was a NASA Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for over a decade and the founding Science Lead for the ECOSTRESS mission on the International Space Station. Dr. Fisher is now the Science Lead for Hydrosat and Associate Professor of Environmental Science and Policy at Chapman University. With over 250 publications, Dr. Fisher has been named one of the world’s “most influential” researchers for the past 7 years in a row. INTERESTED IN SHARING?We're always looking for new webinar speakers. If you're interested in sharing your work or technical expertise with SCGIS members in a webinar, please contact communications(at)scgis.org. All webinars and recordings are public and free.
Stay tuned.... we are working to add the full Webinar archive soon!
|
