Trees Around the GLOBE Webinar 75 on November 12, 2024

The State of Trees - November 2024. The NISAR Mission’s Role in Wetland Mapping: Advancing Environmental Monitoring with Dr. Erika Podest.
This amazing webinar featured Dr. Erika Podest from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Dr. Podest discussed the NASA NISAR Mission and her research on wetlands, a vital land cover. Wetlands cover less than 5% of the Earth’s ice-free land surface, yet they contribute approximately one-fourth of the total methane emitted into the atmosphere annually and serve as significant reservoirs of carbon, thereby influencing global climate dynamics. Climate change is expected to have a profound impact on wetlands ecosystems, affecting sea levels and altering hydrologic regimes, with some changes already being observed. This featured presentation explored how the NISAR satellite-a collaboration between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), scheduled for launch in early 2025-will enhance our ability to detect and monitor wetland ecosystems and their critical roles in the carbon cycle. Following Dr. Podest's talk, Peder Nelson showcased forested wetland data using several online tools, including data from the SENTINEL-1 Mission from the European Space Agency, as well as discussing how wetland land cover data is vital to understanding climate change. The webinar was attended by participants from Argentina, Bangaldesh, Brazil, Croatia, Greece, and the United States.