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Dynamic World land cover data in SkyTruth Alerts

SkyTruth Showcases Novel Use for Dynamic World Dataset at Geo for Good

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A new, free collection of data—in tandem with Alerts—bolsters our ability to detect habitat change in near real-time

This Thursday (October 6) SkyTruth’s Chief Technology Officer Jason Schatz will speak at Google’s Geo for Good plenary session alongside conference organizers from Google and World Resources Institute (WRI). Jason will present technology developed at SkyTruth that focuses on the value of Google and WRI’s new Dynamic World (DW) dataset. DW is a near real-time, land use/land cover (LULC) dataset that we’ve incorporated into SkyTruth’s Alerts application.

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SkyTruth Intern Detects Oil Spills in Niger Delta and Rio Del Rey Basins

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Close inspection of satellite imagery reveals sources of oil pollution off Africa’s coast, near vulnerable communities

Nigeria is not only the largest economy in Africa, but also the largest exporter of crude oil on the continent, exporting 1.27 million barrels per day in 2021. The Nigerian economy is—and historically has been—reliant on the hydrocarbon industry for foreign exchange income and tax revenue. The reliance on crude oil in particular for income generation has led to the widespread proliferation of offshore drilling operations in the petroleum-rich Niger Delta Basin.

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Shepherdstown and McMurran Hall

Don’t Call It a Retreat: SkyTruth’s Reunion Rejuvenated Me

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Our newest employee shares some thoughts on his first visit to Shepherdstown, meeting the full team in person

SkyTruth’s in-person gathering two weeks ago—its first in 30 months—was what most work retreats wish they could be. 

After a mere 5 days on the job, my supervisor, COO Jenny Allen, already was offering me a room at her father’s house, where I would crash during my 3 days in Shepherdstown. John Amos, our CEO, greeted me at the door upon my arrival and immediately offered to take me into town for a quick tour. The town’s charm—a little row of bars, cafés, and coffee shops flanked by Shepherd University’s McMurran Hall—set me at ease.

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Persistence on the Path to Becoming a Master Coder

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Intern Austin Clack’s environmental monitoring projects reveal to him the enormous power traditional remote sensing techniques hold when paired with machine learning.

My name is Austin Clack. I am a SkyTruth intern and a UCLA Bruin, graduating this month. Since September of 2021, the exposure I’ve had to the wide range of SkyTruth programs and key issue areas has opened my eyes to the limitless potential remote sensing holds to provide invaluable insight into virtually any natural or anthropogenic phenomenon.

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Oil Pollution from Commercial Shipping is a Big Problem, and Getting Bigger

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Cerulean is the tool we’re building to stop it

Late last week a group of researchers led by Dr. Yanzhu Dong — including SkyTruth’s Science Advisor, Dr. Ian MacDonald — published a major new study in the prestigious journal Science with a disturbing conclusion: commercial shipping is a major source of chronic, day-to-day oil pollution in our ocean, and pollution from shipping is rapidly getting worse.

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