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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Contributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11759.
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CONTRIBUTIONS OF LAND REMOTE SENSING FOR DECISIONS ABOUT FOOD SECURITY AND HUMAN HEALTH

WORKSHOP REPORT

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

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS

Washington,D.C.
www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Contributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11759.
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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, findings, and conclusions or recommendations contained in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect 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

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Contributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11759.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine


The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific 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 government on scientific 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 charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors 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 Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.


The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific 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.

www.national-academies.org

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Contributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11759.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Contributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11759.
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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 Officer

AMANDA M. ROBERTS, Senior Project Assistant (through August 2006)

JARED P. ENO, Senior Project Assistant (since August 2006)

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Contributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11759.
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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 Officer

VERNA J. BOWEN, Financial and Administrative Associate

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Contributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11759.
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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 Officer

ELIZABETH A. EIDE, Senior Program Officer

DAVID A. FEARY, Senior Program Officer

ANNE M. LINN, Senior Program Officer

ANN G. FRAZIER, Program Officer

SAMMANTHA MAGSINO, Program Officer

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 ogram Assistant

Page viii Cite
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Contributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11759.
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Preface

The National Research Council (NRC) Committee on Geographical Sciences first considered a study on remote sensing for human welfare several years ago. Since then, the world has witnessed the tsunami of 2004, Hurricane Katrina of 2005, wildfires in the western United States damaging human lives and property, emergence of diseases such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and avian influenza, 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 communicating these complex linkages.

Coming decades will see major changes in the numbers, distribution, and lifestyles of human populations; climate and other environmental conditions; and land use in response to both economic demands and altered environments. These vast transformations challenge the scientific community 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.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Contributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11759.
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This report offers examples that illustrate the possibilities of addressing agency objectives to apply remote sensing for societal benefit. 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 scientific 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 workshop participants. In addition, NRC staff provided the logistical support as well as substantive contributions. Hedy J. Rossmeissl helped in developing 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 scientific endeavors, interactions with decision makers, and applications that harness the capabilities of land remote sensing to advance human welfare.


Ruth S. DeFries

Chair

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Contributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11759.
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Acknowledgments

This report was greatly enhanced by input from the presenters and participants at the workshop (see Appendix E). These presentations and discussions helped set the stage for the committee’s fruitful discussions in the sessions that followed. Robert Pool prepared an initial summary of the workshop, which was useful to the committee in writing this report.

This workshop summary report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their participation in the review of this report:

George H. Born, University of Colorado

Michael Emch, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Gregory Glass, Johns Hopkins University

Michael F. Goodchild, University of California, Santa Barbara

Marshall A. Martin, Purdue University

Billie L. Turner II, Clark University

Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclu-

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Contributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11759.
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sions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the workshop summary report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Daniel G. Brown, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Appointed by the National Research Council, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2007. Contributions of Land Remote Sensing for Decisions About Food Security and Human Health: Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11759.
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Land remote sensing: the use of space-based satellite technologies to obtain information on environmental variables such as land-use and land-covering combination with other types of data can provide information on changes in the Earth's surface and atmosphere that are critical for forecasting and responding to human welfare issues, such as disease outbreaks, food shortages, and floods.

This book summarizes a workshop on the potential contributions of remotely sensed data to land-use and land-cover change and ways to use physical, biological, temporal, and social characteristics of particular locations to support decisions about human welfare. The discussions focused on human health and food security, two aspects of human welfare in which remotely-sensed environmental conditions play a key role. Examples illustrating the possibilities for applying remote sensing for societal benefit are included throughout the report. As a result of the workshop, three themes were identified that, if fostered, could help realize the potential for the application of land remote sensing to decisions about human welfare: (1) integration of spatial data on environmental conditions derived from remote sensing with socioeconomic data; (2) communication between remote sensing scientists and decision makers to determine effective use of land remote sensing data for human welfare issues; and (3) acquisition and access to long-term environmental data and development of capacity to interpret these data.

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