News

BioSCape ARSET Course | March 27 - April 5

Biodiversity Applications for Airborne Imaging Systems

This training series will first highlight the use of hyperspectral Visible to Shortwave Infrared (VSWIR) imaging spectroscopy data, for example from AVIRIS-NG and PRISM instruments, for measuring and monitoring terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity (e.g., mapping plant or phytoplankton functional types). Next, the series will focus on using thermal and LiDAR data for characterizing the structure and function of ecosystems using airborne campaigns including the Hyperspectral Thermal Emission Spectrometer (HyTES) and NASA's Land, Vegetation, and Ice Sensor (LVIS). Learn more here.

UCT News | July 29, 2021

UCT joins forces with NASA for biodiversity surveyRegarded as one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet, South Africa’s Greater Cape Floristic Region is set to be the subject of a first-of-its-kind biodiversity survey conducted by NASA.

Space in Africa | July 16, 2021

Field biologists and NASA to Map Biodiversity in South Africa’s Greater Cape Floristic Region

Scientists from South Africa and the United States are launching a campaign to map marine, freshwater, and terrestrial species and ecosystems in one of Earth’s biodiversity hotspots: the Greater Cape Floristic Region at the southwestern edge of South Africa.

CapeTalk | July 16, 2021

NASA to help with mapping of Cape floristic region

We [spoke] to Dr Jasper Slingsby, a senior lecturer in biological sciences at UCT and the SA lead on the fynbos project with NASA.

UBNow | July 13, 2021

Mapping biodiversity in South AfricaField biologists and NASA planes will document the distribution and function of species and ecosystems in the region.

Sowetan Live | July 10, 2021

Houston, we have a fynbos problem: Nasa flies to rescue of Cape's natural treasuresThink of Nasa and the images that spring to mind are probably rocket launches or the International Space Station. Certainly not fynbos.

South African Environmental Observation Network | December 11, 2020

Crucial milestone for ecosystems research in South Africa

The South African Department of Science and Innovation has recently identified part of the BioSCape study region as an Expanded Freshwater and Terrestrial Environmental Observation Network (EFTEON).