Help conservationists make use of satellite imagery to estimate the aboveground biomass of Finnish forests.
Quick Facts
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kbrodt
1st PlaceAbout the data
Finland is Europe’s most forested country, with 75% of its land area covered in forest. Unlike many other forested regions, two-thirds of Finnish forests are privately owned. The Finland Forest Centre’s database on these private forests is one of the world’s most extensive. Their free and open LiDAR data, provided through the Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license, allows for the calculation of above ground biomass (AGBM), an essential measure for policy makers and researchers. This makes Finland one of the world’s best test labs for developing powerful satellite biomass algorithms.
Various stakeholders from private and public forest owners to scientists, policymakers, and corporations use Aboveground Biomass (ABGM) to better understand a forest's carbon stock and sequestration. Measuring the power of forests as carbon sinks provides incentive to consider the environmental value of forests and contribute to the global goal of halting deforestation.
After the challenge, the best biomass predictions will be used to model carbon metrics on Avoin Map to aid transparent decision making and biodiversity restoration. The challenge-winning biomass algorithm will be adjusted and scaled globally using ground truth measurements from forests around the world. The algorithm could be extended to many different types of forest biomass, from boreal to temperate, and from tropical to arid.
“I believe that we are just at the beginning of the Earth Observation big data revolution. Joint effort and open science are the fundamental bricks to build new models and services for addressing societal challenges.”
- Dr. Andrea Nascetti, Faculty of Sciences, University of Liège
More information on satellite data
Sentinel-1 SAR
The Sentinel-1 mission uses two polar-orbiting satellites that circle the globe along opposite trajectories, one ascending across the poles, one descending. Unlike many other remote sensing missions (including Sentinel-2), Sentinel-1 conducts remote imaging using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). SAR operates by emitting energy from a sensor and recording the amount of that energy that is reflected back after interacting with the Earth. This energy can be transmitted and received using either vertical or horizontal polarizations, which correspond to different bands. The figure below illustrates how radars transmit and receive polarized energy by applying specific filters.
The first symbol indicates the direction of transmission and the second indicates the direction of reception. Image Credit: Remote Sensing of the Environment.
The signal strength of these different polarizations can give scientists clues about the surface of the area being sensed — for example, whether it is bare soil or water, forest canopy, or buildings, among others. For more information about different bands and surfaces, NASA Earthdata can be a useful resource.
Sentinel-2 MSI
Sentinel-2 is a European wide-swath, high-resolution, multi-spectral imaging mission. Sentinel-2 includes twin satellites flying in the same orbit but phased at 180°, which is designed to give a high revisit frequency of 5 days at the equator.
SENTINEL-2 carries an optical instrument payload that samples 13 spectral bands: four bands at 10 m, six bands at 20 m, and three bands at 60 m spatial resolution. The orbital swath width is 290 km.
For more information, refer to the Copernicus Sentinel-2 information page.
Cloud Probability Layer
The cloud probability layer (CLP band) provided in the Sentinel-2 data was generated using the Sentinel Hub Cloud Detector for Sentinel-2 images. This model is publicly available under the CC-BY-SA-4.0 license.
About our data partners
The idea to prepare this dataset was developed within the two Geomatics groups of KU Leuven University and the University of Liège in scientific collaboration with the Finnish company Avoin Map.
The main aim of this challenge is to investigate the potential of multi-modal and multi-resolution Sentinel satellite data to estimate biomass at a large scale, using data from the Finnish Forest Centre's open forest and nature data as reference data. While field measurements and airborne LiDAR techniques are effectively used to retrieve information about the forest biomass, it’s challenging and expensive to use these techniques at a large scale. The utilization of satellite data to measure biomass would dramatically reduce the cost and resources required for forest monitoring and carbon estimation. In turn, such information allows landowners and policy makers to make better decisions for the conservation of forests.
You can learn more here:
- KU Leuven Geomatics Research Group
- University of Liège Geomatics Unit
- Avoin Map
- Finnish Forest Centre
The BioMassters: Rules and Terms of Data Use
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Limitations of liability
By participating in the Competition, each Participant agrees that: (1) any and all disputes, claims, and causes of action arising out of or in connection with the Competition, or any prize awarded, shall be resolved individually without resort to any form of class action; (2) any claims, judgments and awards shall be limited to actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, including costs associated with entering the Competition, but in no event attorney's fees; and (3) under no circumstances will a Participant be permitted to obtain any award for, and each Participant hereby waives all rights to claim, punitive, incidental or consequential damages and any and all rights to have damages multiplied or otherwise increased and any other damages, other than damages for actual out-of-pocket expenses.
DrivenData, Inc., Competition Sponsor, and the employees, officers, directors, shareholders, agents, representatives, affiliates, subsidiaries, and advertising, promotional and legal advisors thereof (collectively, the “Released Parties”) are not responsible and shall not be liable for: (i) late, lost, delayed, damaged, misdirected, incomplete, illegible, or unintelligible entries; (ii) telephone, electronic, hardware, or software program, network, Internet, or computer malfunctions, failures, or difficulties; (iii) errors in transmission; (iv) any condition caused by events beyond the control of the Released Parties that may cause the Competition to be disrupted or corrupted; (v) any injuries, losses, or damages of any kind caused by a prize or resulting from acceptance, possession, or use of a prize, or from participation in the Competition (however (but only if required by law in your jurisdiction), this release and hold harmless commitment does not apply to cases of bodily injury or loss of life to the extent that any death or personal injury is caused by the negligence of DrivenData, Competition Sponsor, or other third parties, where liability to the injured party cannot be excluded by law); or (vi) any printing or typographical errors in any materials associated with the Competition.
Disclaimer of Warranties
You understand that we cannot and do not guarantee or warrant that the Data or other files available for downloading from the internet or the Competition Website will be free of viruses or other destructive code. You are responsible for implementing sufficient procedures and checkpoints to satisfy your particular requirements for anti-virus protection and accuracy of data input and output, and for maintaining a means external to our site for any reconstruction of any lost data. RELEASED PARTIES WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY A DISTRIBUTED DENIAL-OF-SERVICE ATTACK, VIRUSES OR OTHER TECHNOLOGICALLY HARMFUL MATERIAL THAT MAY INFECT YOUR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT, COMPUTER PROGRAMS, DATA OR OTHER PROPRIETARY MATERIAL DUE TO YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE OR TO YOUR DOWNLOADING OF ANY MATERIAL POSTED ON IT, OR ON ANY WEBSITE LINKED TO IT.
YOUR USE OF THE COMPETITION WEBSITE, ITS CONTENT AND ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE AND RECEIPT OF ANY PRIZES IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE WEBSITE, ITS CONTENT AND ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, BEYOND ANY NON-EXCLUDABLE GUARANTEES (DEFINED BELOW). NEITHER THE RELEASED PARTIES NOR ANY PERSON ASSOCIATED WITH RELEASED PARTIES MAKES ANY WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION WITH RESPECT TO THE COMPLETENESS, SECURITY, RELIABILITY, QUALITY, ACCURACY OR AVAILABILITY OF THE COMPETITION WEBSITE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, NEITHER RELEASED PARTIES NOR ANYONE ASSOCIATED WITH THE RELEASED PARTIES REPRESENTS OR WARRANTS THAT THE COMPETITION WEBSITE, ITS CONTENT OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE WILL BE ACCURATE, RELIABLE, ERROR-FREE OR UNINTERRUPTED, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, THAT OUR SITE OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS OR THAT THE COMPETITION WEBSITE OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE WILL OTHERWISE MEET YOUR NEEDS OR EXPECTATIONS.
NOTHING IN THESE COMPETITION RULES LIMITS, EXCLUDES, OR MODIFIES OR PURPORTS TO LIMIT, EXCLUDE, OR MODIFY ANY STATUTORY CONSUMER GUARANTEE OR ANY IMPLIED CONDITION OR WARRANTY, THE EXCLUSION OF WHICH FROM THESE COMPETITION RULES WOULD CONTRAVENE ANY STATUTE OR CAUSE ANY PART OF THESE TERMS TO BE VOID (“NON-EXCLUDABLE GUARANTEES”). SUBJECT TO THE LIMITATIONS IN THE PRECEDING SENTENCE AND TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY ANY MANDATORY PROVISIONS OF APPLICABLE LAW, THE RELEASED PARTIES HEREBY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT AND FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
THE FOREGOING DOES NOT AFFECT ANY WARRANTIES WHICH CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.
Governing Law and Jurisdiction
DrivenData shall be the sole interpreter of these Competition Rules.
All matters relating to the Competition Rules or the Competition and any dispute or claim arising therefrom or related thereto (in each case, including non-contractual disputes or claims), shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts without giving effect to any choice or conflict of law provision or rule (whether of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or any other jurisdiction).
Any legal suit, action or proceeding arising out of, or related to, the Competition or the Competition Website shall be instituted exclusively in the federal courts of the United States or the courts of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts although we retain the right to bring any suit, action or proceeding against you for breach of these Terms of Use in your country of residence or any other relevant country. You waive any and all objections to the exercise of jurisdiction over you by such courts and to venue in such courts.
The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these Competition Rules shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. In the event that any provision is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable or illegal, these Competition Rules shall otherwise remain in effect and be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or illegal provision was not contained herein.