# Component 2 - Training Session 1 - July 12--16, 2004

# First Regional Training Session on Remote Sensing and Image Processing for Land Cover, Land Use Change and Forestry [^1] and Carbon Modeling in Mesoamerica

## 

## Background

Impacts on the global environment resulting from human activity are
occurring at extraordinary magnitudes, rates, and spatial scales. The
potential consequences of land cover and land use change LCLUCF are of
global concern, affecting climate and atmosphere, hydrology and nutrient
cycles, biodiversity, productivity, sustainability, and the
international economy. Land cover and land use change and Forestry
(LCLUCF) is a critical aspect of understanding how humans are affecting
changes in global climate.

The role of land use and forestry in the global carbon cycle has gained
attention, particularly with respect to international agreements such as
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),
signed by more than 170 countries (including all 7 nations of Central
America and Mexico) and the Convention on Biological Diversity. For
example, national commitments under the UNFCCC require complete national
inventories of GHG emission and removals from the land use change and
forestry sector.

On this regard, it has been recognized that these inventories will
increasingly rely on remote sensing derived data on forests and LCLUC.
Therefore, the great uncertainty of global carbon flux estimates[^2]
could be reduced with more reliable data on: 1) the areal extent and
distribution of tropical forest types and other land cover / use in the
tropics; 2) biomass and carbon pools stored in these forest and land
cover / use types; 3) the rates and extent of LCLUC in the tropics; and
4) the flux of carbon associated with, as well as independent of, the
various modes of LCLUC.

To respond to this regional need, the National Aeronautics and Spatial
Agency (NASA), with the support of the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID), in the Context of CONCAUSA Plan of
Action on Climate Change, is implementing a regional project
Mesoamerican Monitoring and Visualizations System (SIAM-SERVIR), aimed
at strengthening the regional capacity to take advantage of satellite
information for verifying changes in land use, modeling climate change
and its impacts, and integrating decision support tools[^3] into
sustainable development planning.

This Regional Training Session on Remote Sensing and Image Processing
for Land Cover, Land Use Change and Forestry [^4] and Carbon Modeling in
Mesoamerica is the first of a series of regional capacity building
efforts towards adopting a common approach to methods for collecting,
processing, interpreting, and modeling LCLUF remote sensing data.

## Purpose

The overall purpose of this training session is to familiarize Central
American project cooperators with the remote sensing and image
processing research that is being conducted by the NASA research team
and to acquaint them with the data products being produced in the areas
of LULUCF and carbon modeling. The training session, therefore, will be
both informative and practical in nature.

## Methodology

In order to encourage open communication and mutually beneficial
cooperation between all project cooperators, the session will take the
form of a round-table panel discussion. A moderator from the host
country will be present to ensure that all cooperator views are heard
while adhering, as closely as possible, to the official agenda.

As noted above, the session will be both informative and practical. The
first two days will focus on the following topics:

-   Introduction of cooperators

-   Central America: Geographical Overview and Development trends.

-   Individual Cooperator presentations

-   Relevant research, development, systematic observation, and current
    constrains (land- cover mapping, GHG inventories, carbon modeling,
    etc.) by cooperators.

-   Available data and data sharing

-   NASA team procedures and strategies for land-use/land-cover mapping

    -   Landsat

    -   MODIS

-   The need for consistent ground-truth data collection strategies

    -   For classification training

    -   For accuracy assessment

-   Overview of methods for Carbon Modeling

The last two and a half days of the session will be used to familiarize
cooperators with the data products being produced for the project and to
seek their input on how to proceed with the final land-cover
classification scheme and carbon modeling methods. This practical
session will focus on the following:

-   Group Landsat data activity: assigning clusters derived from
    unsupervised methods to our new land-cover classification scheme.

-   Round table discussion on an appropriate and consistent method for
    collecting ground-truth/ground control data for image classification
    training and accuracy assessment.

-   Adoption of on an appropriate and consistent method for collecting
    ground-truth/ground control data for image classification training
    and accuracy assessment.

-   Drafting and adopting a plan of action.

## Technical, Information and Sustainability Requirements for Participation

In order to ensure a successful training session, and continuity of this
initial effort, we require that:

-   The proposed participant is actively involved and has relevant
    experience in any form in the national/institutional processes for
    the preparation of the GHG inventories in the LULUCF sector, Land
    Planning, and National Information Systems or carbon modeler (e.g.,
    researcher, data analyst, etc).

-   The proposed participant may bring any existing spatial datasets
    pertaining to land-use, land-cover, ground-truth, vegetation
    studies, etc. to the session with them. We also request that you let
    us know what image processing/remote sensing software you currently
    use, and what coordinate system your data is in.

-   A brief explanation of how the tools learned at this training
    session will be used at his/her national institution.

**Workshop Agenda**

**Monday July 12**

8:00A -- Registration

8:45A -- Opening Remarks

9:00A -- Introduction

9:20A -- Project Background

9:40A -- CATHALAC/UNFCC Background

10:00A -- Coffee Break

10:15A -- Presentations from individual nations. Description of research
center, resident expertise, current and relevant research, available
data, project expectations, etc.\
10:20A -- Panama\
    10:40A -- Costa Rica\
    11:00A -- Nicaragua\
    11:20A -- Honduras\
    11:40A -- El Salvador

12:00P -- Lunch break

1:00P -- Presentations from individual nations, continued.\
    1:05P -- Guatemala\
    1:25P -- Belize\
    1:45P -- Mexico

2:05P -- Presentation from NASA and CAST \
    2:05P -- Description and Status of Component 1 (Jack Cothren and
Bill Johnston)\
    2:30P -- Component 1 Demo (Bill Johnston)

3:00P -- Break

3:15P -- Description and Status of Component 2 (Jack Cothren and Bruce
Gorham)

3:45P -- Presentation of Data Packets and Class Computer Login

4:20P -- Training Software and Data Overview

5:00P -- Adjourn

**Tuesday July 13**

8:30A -- Welcome & Review of Day's Agenda

8:45A -- Data Exploration Tools Exercises

10:00A -- Morning Break

10:15A -- Image Preprocessing and Cloud Removal & Exercise

12:00P -- Lunch Break

1:00P -- Supervised image classification exercise (2000 Landsat 7)

3:00P -- Afternoon Break

3:15P -- Supervised image classification exercise (cont)

5:00P -- Adjourn

**Wednesday July 14**

8:30A -- Welcome & Review of Day's Agenda

8:45A -- Unsupervised image clustering (1990 Landsat 5)

10:00A -- Morning Break

10:15 -- Change detection 1990 to 2000

12:00P -- Lunch Break

1:00P -- Change detection 1990 to 2000 (cont)

3:00P -- Afternoon Break

3:15P -- 3D Visualization of SIAM-SERVIR Data with the Skyline 3D
Visualization Software Suite (Danny Hardin)

-- SIAM-SERVIR Webpage Overview (Danny Hardin)

5:00P -- Adjourn

**Thursday July 15**

8:30A -- Welcome & Review of Day's Agenda

8:45A -- GPS Basics and Ground-truth Data Collection Strategies

9:30A -- Accuracy Assessment Methods

10:00A -- Morning Break

10:15A -- Roundtable Discussion: Regional Ground-truth Collection
Strategy

12:00P -- Lunch Break

1:00P -- Project Prototype: Guatemala Case Study (Daniel Hayes).

3:00P -- Afternoon break

3:15P -- Comparisons: Exploring MODIS and Landsat data
difference/similarities. Hands-on and Discussion

5:00P -- Adjourn

**Friday July 16**

8:30A -- Welcome & Review of Day's Agenda

8:15A -- Round table discussion of overall carbon modeling techniques
with remote sensing and land-use/land-cover data,

11:00A -- Drafting and adopting a plan of action.

12:00P -- Adjourn

[^1]: LCLUCF is known as LULUCF in the UNFCCC community

[^2]: For example, Changes in Forests and Other Woody Biomass Stocks is
    the most significant component of an LUCF inventory in Mesoamerica.
    However, countries found that they applied differing definitions
    when classifying the land area of managed forests. As a result, the
    area of "managed" forest expressed as a percentage of the total
    forested area ranged from 1.5% to 100%. (Lim. B, & Brown, S., 2001)

[^3]: Develop under the Earth Science Research, Education and
    Applications Solutions Network (REASON/CAN)

[^4]: LCLUCF is known as LULUCF in the UNFCCC community