REMOTE SENSING

Oct 20 2025TECHNOLOGY

Boosting AI in Remote Sensing: A Smarter Way to Learn

Remote sensing is a big deal. It helps us see the world from above. But making AI models that work well on edge devices is tough. They need to be small and smart. That's where knowledge distillation (KD) comes in. KD is like having a teacher help a student learn better. But current KD methods aren't perfect. They miss out on important details and don't use all the in...

reading time about 1 minute
Jul 15 2025ENVIRONMENT

Northwestern India's Land and Water Woes

Northwestern India's Trans-Gangetic Plains (TGP) are vital for the country's food supply, growing lots of wheat and rice. But this area is in trouble. Land is getting worse, and droughts are becoming more common. This is a big deal because not many studies have looked at both problems together. A recent study used satellite data and computer tools to check the healt...

reading time about 1 minute
Apr 21 2025SCIENCE

A New Way to Predict Winter Wheat Harvests

The world needs to know how much food it can expect from its farms. This is especially true for crops like winter wheat. To do this, experts need to know exactly where different crops are growing. This helps them keep an eye on how the crops are doing and predict how much they will produce. However, getting this detailed information during the growing season can be t...

reading time about 2 minutes
Apr 09 2025SCIENCE

Forest Guardians: Using Tech to Track Aspen Trees

The boreal forest, also known as taiga, is a vast expanse of evergreens. But there is another tree that plays a crucial role in this ecosystem: the aspen. This tree is vital for both forestry and wildlife. However, pinpointing where these trees are can be tricky. This is where technology comes in. Researchers have developed a smart way to map out where aspen trees a...

reading time about 1 minute
Mar 04 2025TECHNOLOGY

Seeing the World from Above: Generating Global Images

Imagine looking at the Earth from space. That's exactly what a new technology called MetaEarth does. It creates pictures of our planet from a bird's-eye view. This isn't just any picture. It's a high-quality, detailed image that can show us things we might not see from the ground. MetaEarth can generate images of any place on Earth, at any size, and with different le...

reading time about 2 minutes
Feb 20 2025SCIENCE

Plants' Light Absorption and Photosynthesis: A New Perspective

Plants need light for photosynthesis, which is the process that turns light into energy. The amount of light a plant can absorb depends on how much chlorophyll (Chl) it has. Chlorophyll is like the plant's solar panel, and the more it has, the more light it can absorb. This light absorption is crucial for understanding how well plants can photosynthesize and grow. S...

reading time about 1 minute
Feb 19 2025ENVIRONMENT

Uruguay's Wetlands: Pesticide Battlefields

Uruguay's agricultural boom has led to a surge in pesticide use, causing serious environmental problems. The country's wetlands, crucial for conservation, are under threat. To grasp the full extent of this issue, it's essential to understand how pesticides are used, where they end up, and how they move through the environment. Researchers in Uruguay tackled this pro...

reading time about 1 minute
Jan 04 2025SCIENCE

Using Drones and Satellite Data to Track Coastal Cliff Erosion

Researchers have come up with a smart new way to figure out how much coastal cliffs are eroding. They combined data from drones, satellites, and laser measurements to see how bad the erosion is. This method helps us understand both natural wear and tear on cliffs and damage to protective structures from storms and other extreme weather. By looking at pictures taken ...

reading time about 1 minute
Dec 25 2024SCIENCE

How Color Data Can Help Track Mud in Wetlands and Deltas

Wetlands and deltas are crucial for our planet, especially as sea levels rise. One way they cope is by trapping tiny bits of mud, called suspended solids, to build up their surfaces. Scientists often use special cameras on planes to map these solids. However, the recipes they use to make sense of the camera data don't always work everywhere or at different times beca...

reading time about 1 minute
Nov 25 2024SCIENCE

Measuring the Sun's Reflection: How China's SCAR Is Improving Earth Observation

Scientists are always looking for better ways to study changes in our climate and weather. One important tool is satellite data, but getting accurate information for a long time is tough. That's why China started working on a special tool in 2015. This tool, called the Space Cryogenic Absolute Radiometer (SCAR), is helping to solve a big problem with satellite data. ...

reading time about 1 minute