CARPE III: Monitoring the Forest Resources of the Congo Basin

Principal Investigator:

Matthew Hansen

CO Investigators:

Chris Justice

Alice L. Altstatt

Sponsor:

Time period:

2015

2019

Researchers:

Janet Nackoney

Giuseppe Molinario

Patrick Lola Amani

Alexandra (Sasha) Tyukavina

Marc Steininger

Eddy Bongwele Is'akaala

Project Description:

NASA, along with its consortium partners the University of Maryland (UMD) and the Observatoire Satellital des Forêts d’Afrique Centrale (OSFAC), provides unique remote sensing data products, mapping and other services to support CARPE III. In particular, NASA is focused on the deployment of the satellite based land cover monitoring techniques developed under previous phases of CARPE which will allow regional and national institutions to “leap-frog” ahead in their capacity to produce remote sensing derived land cover monitoring products and associated carbon inventory and emissions estimates. The primary focus of the NASA consortium has been and will continue to be satellite based forest cover monitoring at regional and national scales for Central Africa. Due to the large scale of the Congo Basin, satellite based regional forest cover mapping is the only way to effectively monitor forest cover change, a critical parameter in evaluating CARPE's progress towards achieving sustainable management of targeted forested landscapes. The consortium will implement a probability based error assessment of its land cover and change products using very high resolution data. In addition the consortium proposes to incorporate other data sets with land cover data to create new, value added products to support USAID’s development objectives in Central Africa. The NASA consortium will continue to strive to establish operational satellite based forest cover monitoring in the region, primarily through its consortium partner, OSFAC, but also at government and educational institutions where possible. UMD will continue to support the CARPE website and webservices including CARPE Mapper and the Information Management Tool. In addition, the consortium proposes to support Internews Earth Journalism Network to build an environmental news and data portal for Central Africa. Finally, the NASA consortium will continue to archive and disseminate satellite data in support of CARPE partners.

Website: carpe.umd.edu
Interactive map viewer: https://carpe.umd.edu/carpemaps

Related Publications:

Molinario, G., Hansen, M., Potapov, P., Tyukavina, A., Stehman, S. (2020) Contextualizing Landscape-Scale Forest Cover Loss in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between 2000 and 2015. Land, 9(1), 23.

Munzimi, Y.A., Hansen, M.C., Kwabena A.O. (2019) Estimating daily streamflow in the Congo Basin using satellite-derived data and a semi-distributed hydrological model. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 64(12), pp. 1472-1487

Turubanova, S., Potapov, P., Tyukavina, A., and Hansen, M. (2018) Ongoing primary forest loss in Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Indonesia. Environmental Research Letters

Tyukavina, A., Hansen, M.C., Potapov, P., Parker, D., Okpa, C., Stehman, S.V., Kommareddy, I., Turubanova, S. (2018) Congo Basin forest loss dominated by increasing smallholder clearing. Science advances 4 (11), eaat2993.

Fuller, T.L., Narins, T.P., Nackoney, J., Bonebrake, T.C., Clee, P.S., Morgan, K., Tróchez, A., Meñe, D.B., Bongwele, E., Njabo, K.Y., Anthony, N.M., Gonder, M.K., Kahn, M., Allen, W.R., Smith, T.B. (2018) Assessing the impact of China’s timber industry on Congo Basin land use change. Area.

Molinario, G., Hansen, M.C., Potapov, P.V., Tyukavina, A., Stehman, S., Barker, B., Humber, M. (2017) Quantification of land cover and land use within the rural
complex of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Environmental Research Letters, 12, 104001.

Nackoney, J., Hickey, J., Williams, D., Facheux, C., Furuichi, T., Dupain., J. (2017) Geospatial information informs bonobo conservation efforts. In: Bonobos: Unique in Mind, Brain and Behavior (B. Hare and S. Yamamoto, Eds.). Oxford University Press

Hansen, M.C., Potapov, P.V., Goetz, S.J.,Turubanova, S., Tyukavina, A., Krylov, A., Kommareddy, A., Egorov, A. (2016) Mapping tree height distributions in Sub-Saharan Africa using Landsat 7 and 8 data. Remote Sensing of Environment, 185, 221-232.

Jantz, S.M., Pintea, L., Nackoney, J., Hansen, M.C. (2016) Landsat ETM+ and SRTM Data Provide Near Real-Time Monitoring of Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) Habitats in Africa. Remote Sensing, 8(5), 427.

Molinario, G., Hansen, M.C., Potapov P.V. (2015) Forest cover dynamics of shifting cultivation in the Democratic Republic of Congo: a remote sensing-based assessment for 2000–2010. Environmental Research Letters, 10, 094009.

Munzimi, Y. A., Hansen, M. C., Adusei, B., & Senay, G. B. (2015) Characterizing Congo Basin rainfall and climate using Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite data and limited rain gauge ground observations. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 54(3), 541-555

Nackoney, J., G. Molinario, P. Potapov, S. Turubanova, M.C. Hansen, T. Furuichi (2014) Impacts of civil conflict on primary forest habitat in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1990-2010. Biological Conservation 170: 321-328.

Hickey, J., J. Nackoney, N. Nibbelink, et al. (2013) Human Proximity and habitat fragmentation are key drivers of the rangewide bonobo distribution. Biodiversity and Conservation 22(13-14): 3085-3104.

Tyukavina A., Stehman S.V., Potapov P.V., Turubanova S.A., Baccini A., Goetz S.J., Laporte N.T., Houghton R.A., Hansen M.C. (2013) National-scale estimation of gross forest aboveground carbon loss: a case study of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Environmental Research Letters, 4, 1-14.

Bwangoy, J-R.B.B., Hansen, M.C., Potapov, P., Turubanova, S., Lumbuenamo, R.S. (2013) Identifying nascent wetland forest conversion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Wetlands Ecology and Management, 21, 29-43.

Nackoney, J. and D. Williams (2013) A comparison of scenarios for rural development planning and conservation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Biological Conservation, 164: 140-149.

Nackoney, J., D. Rybock, J. Dupain, C. Facheux (2013) Coupling participatory mapping and GIS to inform village-level agricultural zoning in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Landscape and Urban Planning, 110:164-174.

Nackoney, J. and D. Williams (2012) Conservation prioritization and planning with limited wildlife data in a Congo Basin forest landscape: assessing human threats and vulnerability to land use change. Journal of Conservation Planning 8:25-44.

Potapov, P.V., Turubanova, S.A., Hansen, M.C., Adusei, B., Broich, M., Altstatt, A., Mane, L., and Justice, C.O., (2012) Quantifying forest cover loss in Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2000-2010, with Landsat ETM+ data, Remote Sensing Environment, 2012, 122, 106-116.

Bwangoy, J.-R.B., Hansen, M.C., Roy, D.P., De Grandi, G., and Justice, C.O. (2010) Wetland mapping in the Congo Basin using optical and radar remotely sensed data and derived topographical indices. Remote Sensing of Environment, 114, 73-86.

Hansen, M.C., Roy, D., Lindquist, E., Justice, C.O., and Altstatt, A. (2008) A method for integrating MODIS and Landsat data for systematic monitoring of forest cover and change in the Congo Basin, Remote Sensing of Environment, 112, 2495-2513.