Remote Sensing And The New Global River Science
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https://doi.org/10.1038/s44221-026-00665-2 <-- shared paper
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“Rivers impact the well-being of humans and the environment. As they increasingly face planetary-scale stressors, it is critically important to monitor and understand rivers at the global scale. As the only synoptic resource for global primary data on rivers, satellite remote sensing has recently begun to provide unprecedented opportunities for the monitoring, understanding, and prediction of global river behaviour. Despite these advances, the role of satellite remote sensing in global river science has still not been fully explored. New satellite systems and algorithms will enable substantial improvements in river measurements, provide new answers to long-standing or newly emerging scientific questions, and eventually update basic knowledge of rivers to advance global river science. In this [paper they] explore how remote sensing has been used to study the world’s rivers, examine challenges and opportunities for further advancing our understanding of rivers using existing and upcoming sensors, and identify possible solutions and future research directions…”
#GIS #spatial #mapping #water #hydrology #satellite #remotsesensing #earthobservation #hydrography #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #physicalgeography #change #river #global #model #modeling #research #hydrogeomorphology #geomorphometry #riverine #humanimpacts #waterquality #waterresources #watermanagement #infrastructure #lake #reservoir #dam #impoundment #canals #avulsion #overbank #flood #flooding #erosion #sedimentation #morphology #network #downstream

Remote Sensing, Real Impact - Technology-Driven Conservation At The Jane Goodall Institute
(How the Jane Goodall Institute [JGI] is using satellite imagery and spatial technology to help people and animals thrive.)
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https://www.geoweeknews.com/news/conservation-at-the-jane-goodall-institute <-- shared technical article
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https://www.iceye.com/blog/government/solutions/how-the-jane-goodall-institute-uses-iceye-sar-to-protect-ecosystems <-- shared technical article
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[this post should not be seen as endorsement of a particular provider and/or approach]
“Dr. Jane Goodall’s groundbreaking research at Gombe National Park in Tanzania began in 1960, and transformed our understanding of chimpanzees and redefined the relationship between humans and animals. Dr. Goodall dedicated her life to conservation and community empowerment. Her recent passing marks the end of an extraordinary career in ethology and conservation science. Yet her legacy lives on powerfully through the Jane Goodall Institute [JGI] and the countless individuals and communities she inspired worldwide. Her pioneering work revealed that chimpanzees make and use tools, have complex social structures, and possess individual personalities; discoveries that fundamentally challenged our understanding of what it means to be human, for the better…
The institute's current work embodies Dr. Goodall's profound philosophy: that humanity can only reach its full potential "when our clever brains and our compassionate hearts are connected."
This principle guides every aspect of JGI's conservation science strategy, from analyzing satellite data to providing local communities with the tools they need to strengthen their environment. Dr. Goodall's vision that conservation must be rooted in compassion, scientific rigor, and respect for local communities continues to shape the institute's innovative approach to using technology for conservation action.
As time has gone on, geospatial technologies have become increasingly indispensable to this mission, enabling JGI to monitor forest health in real-time, map critical chimpanzee habitats and migration corridors, and measure the tangible impact of community-led conservation initiatives. But perhaps most importantly, these technologies help the communities understand that the lives of people, animals and their shared environment are all interconnected…”
#ConservationTechnology #illegal #Deforestation #hunting #mining #GombeNationalPark #remotesensing #radar #earthobservation #chimpanzee #conservation #communityempowerment #JaneGoodallInstitute #JGI #satellite #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #GIS #spatial #mapping #habitat #destruction #migration #corridors #monitoring #conservationscience #strategy #resource #cloudcover #alerts #foresthealth #protection #SAR #vegetation #ecosystems #rainforest #greatape #disease #foodsecurity #DRC #Tanzania #CongoBasin #nationalpark #ranger #parkranger #security #safety #alerts #wildlifetrafficking
@JaneGoodallInstitute @iceeye

Mountain Lions Have Major Ecological Impact Even In Small Preserves
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https://phys.org/news/2026-06-mountain-lions-major-ecological-impact.html <-- shared technical article
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https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.73775 <-- shared paper
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https://youtu.be/jy-ngOhoNPU?si=WTSMWz9XuaqT8Z4O <-- shared Standford overview video
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https://youtu.be/CzSCu2FOj0Q?si=bb15-e03DLuWhQ4Y <-- shared Stanford overview video
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[not my usual fare to post, but fascinating…]
“#Bigcats have a big impact. A long-term study showed that when mountain lions began regular visits to a small suburban preserve about 45 miles (72 kilometers) south of San Francisco, they changed the behavior of many other animals.
Mountain lions (Puma concolor) started appearing with increasing frequency on trail cameras at Stanford's Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve ('Ootchamin 'Ooyakma) from 2015 to 2020. Researchers documented a corresponding drop in deer activity compared with the prior years of lower or absent puma activity. Vegetation surveys also showed that many woody plants deer like to eat or tend to trample, including young oak trees, began to thrive.
These types of multilevel effects, called trophic cascades, have been studied primarily in large wilderness areas, particularly cascades caused by #apexpredators such as #wolves reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park...”
#mountainlion #cougar #puma #trophiccascade #JasperRidgeBiologicalPreserve #OotchaminOoyakma #monitoring #spatiotemporal #spatialanalysis #trailcamera #deer #rabbit #coyote #bobcat #fox #vegetation #survey #oak #tree #young #sapling #plant #predator #preyabundance #herbivore #health #ecosystem #balance #habitat #mesopredator #crossmapping #nocturnal #GIS #spatial #mapping #ecology #conservation #wilderness
#StanfordUniversity

How Space Weather Could Bust The AI Boom
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https://spacenews.com/how-space-weather-could-bust-the-ai-boom/ <-- shared technical article
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https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-data-centers-electric-grid-meltdown <-- shared technical article, “AI Data Centers Pushing Electric Grid Into Meltdown”
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https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-earth-032524-012356 <-- shared 2026 paper, “Magnetic Storms and Geoelectric Hazards”
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#AI #datcenters #infrastructure #impacts #solarstorms #spaceweather #risk #hazards #overloading #electricity #energy #powersupply #energygrid #vulnerable #transmission #energy #demand #consumers #geoelectrical #geomagnetism #blackout #damage #cost #economics #equipment #transformers #carringtonevent #NERC #grid #reliability #electricaldemand #utilities #magneticstorm #electromagneticinduction #extremeevent #historicalevent #hazardanalysis #spaceweather #history #Carrington #geoelectric #humanimpacts #risk #hazard #monitoring #network #geology #geomagnetism #impedance #rock #soil #utilities #electricaltransmission #powerlines #magnetotelluric #sensor #blackout #brownout #energy #geoelectrichazard #geoelectric #GIS #spatial #mapping #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #model #modeling #geomagnetism #geomagneticstorm #telecommunication #electronics #hardened #geography #mitigation #preparedness #geomorphology #geomorphometry #surfacegeology #cost #economics #disaster #impacts #technology #InternetOfThings #internet #USA #review #CONUS #numericalmodeling #realtimemonitoring #AIBoom #Bust
@North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)

Compound Hydrogeomorphic Cascades And Rapid Upstream To Downstream Hazard Coupling In The Eastern Himalaya
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https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-52915-8 <-- shared paper
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https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-1281-2025 <-- shared paper
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https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-025-07766-3 <-- shared paper
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[I recognise that the photo is instead for the floods, etc in Lubra, Nepal - but felt it better showed the hydrogeomorphical setting (sic) for the 'casual' post viewer...]
H/T @Kuldeep Dutta
“In hilly regions transitioning rapidly to low gradient alluvial plains, localized hydrometeorological triggers can instantly scale into devastating basin wide disasters. This study dissects the September 2020 cascading hazard in parts of the Arunachal Pradesh-Assam corridor to quantify the rapid coupling between upstream hillslopes and downstream floodplains…”
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“Extreme precipitation in the Eastern Himalaya is increasingly associated with coupled hillslope-floodplain hazards. This study examines the 17th-18th September 2020 rainfall event in Arunachal Pradesh initiating landslides and its downstream impacts in Assam, India, using multi-sensor satellite data and long-term rainfall records. Sentinel-2 imagery was used to map landslides and debris flows, Sentinel-1 SAR data to delineate flood extent, and IMD gridded rainfall (1996–2020) to analyse rainfall spell characteristics. The event triggered widespread slope failures, localized landslide damming, and a subsequent breach, generating sediment-laden flows that inundated ~ 100 km2 of the Dhemaji floodplain. A backscatter-derived Relative Flood Volume Index (RFVI) indicates spatial variability in inundation intensity, although it does not represent absolute flood volume. Rainfall analysis suggests that antecedent wetness from preceding spells preconditioned slopes, while peak daily rainfall (> 170 mm/day/) initiated landsliding. Power-law scaling shows negligible dependence of intensity on duration (R² ≈ 0.0004), whereas cumulative rainfall exhibits a stronger relationship with duration (R² ≈ 0.54). These results indicate distinct roles of rainfall intensity and accumulation in controlling landslide initiation and downstream flooding, respectively, highlighting the importance of compound rainfall forcing in rapid hydrogeomorphic cascades...”
#EarthScience #RemoteSensing #Himalayas #NaturalHazards #ClimateChange #ScientificReports #GeospatialAnalysis #DisasterMitigation #Landslide #Flooding #alluvial #fluvial #water #hydrology #hydrography #flood #flooding #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #mountain #plain #hydrometeorological #hydrogeomorphology #ArunachalPradesh #Assam #India #hillslope #floodplain #rainfall #precipitation #extremeweather #engineeringgeology #massmovement #landslide #debrisflow #risk #hazard #monitoring #GIS #spatial #mapping #remotesensing #satellite #Sentinel #sedimentation #humanimpacts #infrastructure #damage #cost #economics #public #safety #model #modeling #downstream

Hydroclimate Volatility On A Warming Earth
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https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-024-00624-z <-- shared 2025 paper
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https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/floods-droughts-fires-hydroclimate-whiplash-speeding-up-globally <-- shared UCLA article, “Floods, Droughts, Then Fires: Hydroclimate Whiplash Is Speeding Up Globally “
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H/T @Daniel Swain
“Hydroclimate volatility refers to sudden, large and/or frequent transitions between very dry and very wet conditions. In this Review, we examine how hydroclimate volatility is anticipated to evolve with anthropogenic warming. Using a metric of ‘hydroclimate whiplash’ based on the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index, global-averaged subseasonal (3-month) and interannual (12-month) whiplash have increased by 31–66% and 8–31%, respectively, since the mid-twentieth century. Further increases are anticipated with ongoing warming, including subseasonal increases of 113% and interannual increases of 52% over land areas with 3 °C of warming; these changes are largest at high latitudes and from northern Africa eastward into South Asia. Extensive evidence links these increases primarily to thermodynamics, namely the rising water-vapour-holding capacity and potential evaporative demand of the atmosphere. Increases in hydroclimate volatility will amplify hazards associated with rapid swings between wet and dry states (including flash floods, wildfires, landslides and disease outbreaks), and could accelerate a water management shift towards co-management of drought and flood risks. A clearer understanding of plausible future trajectories of hydroclimate volatility requires expanded focus on the response of atmospheric circulation to regional and global forcings, as well as land–ocean–atmosphere feedbacks, using large ensemble climate model simulations, storm-resolving high-resolution models and emerging machine learning methods…
#water #hydrology #hydroclimate #whiplash #global #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #weatherwhiplash #ecogeomorphology #sustainability #ecology# ###
#water #hydrology #hydroclimate #volatility #dry #wet #drought #flood #flooding #wildfire #landslide #massmovement #whiplash #global #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #weatherwhiplash #ecogeomorphology #sustainability #ecology #hydrogeomorphology #climatechange #extremeweather #anthropogenicwarming #climate #weather #connection #StandardizedPrecipitationEvapotranspiration #precipitation #rainfall #research #evapotranspiration #risk #hazard #riskassessment #disease #pandemic #publichealth #publicsafety #waterquality #watersecurity #watermanagement #hydrography #atmospheric #regional #global #forcing #climatemodel #model #modeling #AI #machinelearning

Environment Auckland [New Zealand] Data Portal [incl. spatial]
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https://environmentauckland.org.nz/Data <-- shared link to data portal
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https://ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/news/2025/09/soe-report-2025/ <-- shared 2025 report link
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https://coastalmonitoringac.netlify.app/ <-- shared Auckland Council Beach Monitoring Program page
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[ancetodal: a VERY long time ago I was an intern Engineering Geologist at the Auckland Council, although it was ARC back then 😊 ]
H/T @David Wright | Senior Field Hydrologist, Hydrology And Data Management Team
“This portal contains primary data from Auckland Council’s State of the Environment monitoring programmes.
Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland Council's Environmental Evaluation and Monitoring Unit carries out environmental monitoring across the region. [They] have been collecting information about Auckland’s environment for more than 30 years and have more than 1,000 monitoring sites across the region. [Their] comprehensive monitoring programmes build a picture of the health of Auckland’s environment, track changes and identify issues...”
#opendata #Auckland #NewZealand #GIS #spatial #mapping #dataportal #localgovernment #publicservice #publicgood #ratepayers #StateoftheEnvironment #monitoringprogrammes #environment #water #hydrology #waterquality #waterresources #intergration #environmentalmonitoring #airquality #coast #coastal #development #construction #engineering #sediment #biology #biodiversity #ecology #habitat #monitoring #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #estuary #river #stream #marine #mitigation #identification
@Auckland Council

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's ‘Spy Mirror’ Could Transform How We Map The Universe
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https://www.discovermagazine.com/nasa-s-nancy-grace-roman-space-telescope-s-spy-mirror-could-transform-how-we-map-the-universe-49239 <-- shared technical article
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https://www.mos.org/article/ready-roman-nancy-grace-roman-space-telescope <-- shared technical article
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https://www.space.com/space-exploration/the-nancy-grace-roman-space-telescope-nasas-next-great-observatory-is-finally-complete <-- shared technical article
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https://youtu.be/TcjuucVEB5g?si=I93BjarghNcYKKqj <-- shared NASA Goddard technical overview video
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https://youtu.be/lBAuc057pVA?si=IghhCWC915FO3y3C <-- shared media video
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“… Roman is set to launch on August 30, 2026, and will help us gain a wider view of the universe and collect data faster than its predecessors, such as the Hubble Space Telescope. The telescope will do so thanks to the incredible equipment and instruments built into it.
These instruments include the primary mirror, which was gifted to NASA by a U.S. intelligence agency, the Wide Field Instrument, and an advanced coronograph. Altogether, these instruments could help us map out more of the universe than we ever imagined.
“It is an incredible feat of precision engineering. It's quite possibly the most complex scientific instrument that NASA has ever built,” Dominic Benford, …program scientist for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope…”
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“Named after NASA’s first chief astronomer, the ‘mother of the Hubble Space Telescope,’ the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will have a field of view at least 100 times larger than Hubble's, potentially measuring light from a billion galaxies in its lifetime. This observatory will also be able to block starlight to directly see exoplanets and planet-forming disks, complete a statistical census of planetary systems in our galaxy, and settle essential questions in the areas of dark energy, exoplanets, and infrared astrophysics…”
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The Roman Space Telescope is engineered to investigate the biggest mysteries in astrophysics:
• Dark Energy & Dark Matter: By surveying billions of galaxies and mapping their distribution, Roman will explore why the universe's expansion is accelerating and trace cosmic history.
• Exoplanets: It will utilize gravitational microlensing to complete a statistical census of planetary systems in our galaxy, aiming to find thousands of exoplanets, including elusive rogue planets.
• Infrared Astrophysics: The telescope's deep, crisp infrared vision will help astronomers measure light from up to a billion galaxies over its lifetime.
#coronograph #astronomy #mapping #exoplanets #universe #telescope #spacetelescope #darkenergy #darkmatter #NancyGrace #NASA #Roman #astrophysics #cosmic #infrared #launch #WideFieldInstrument #instumentation #exploration extraterrestrial observatory #space #remotesensing #galacticbulge #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #supernova
@nasa @nasa Goddard @Discover Magazine