What is First Nations Earth Observation?
Each and every day, a huge amount of satellites and other airborne platforms are circling around the Earth. These platforms fly at different speeds and altitudes, some are privately owned and others collect and share information freely. But what do they capture?
The answer is satellite imagery or Earth Observation (EO) data, which is photography taken of the Earth’s surface that has been acquired from these platforms. This imagery is made available to many people so that they can make assessments and research events that impact the Earth's physical, chemical and biological systems.
You have probably been exposed to Earth Observation work before. For instance, if you watch the news you may have seen a series of images stitched together like a video that shows our polar ice caps melting over the decades. These impactful videos are made possible through Earth Observation data and science.
What is the relevance of EO for Traditional Owners?
Our people have been protecting and managing the lands and waters across Australia and the Torres Strait for millenia. Imagine then, if we could bring together our intrinsic knowledge of Country with modern data science to inform policy that protects our environment, lands, waters and people.
There are several ways that Traditional Owners could be making use of this technology:
Show and demonstrate inarguable impact of climate change on our country
Manage prescribed burns and monitor fire scar maps, year on year
Monitor the health of our marine ecosystems and vegetation
Communicate visually with developers when it comes to disturbances on Country
Visualise places of significance when it comes to heritage and language preservation
Manage the maintenance and protection of culturally significant sites
Why haven’t we seen much of this in our communities already?
To put it simply, First Nations people are directly affected by what is called “the digital divide.” The digital divide is the gap that exists between those who have access to digital technology and the internet, and those who do not. In 2019, Indigenous Australians scored below the national average in access, affordability, and digital ability - with affordability showing the largest gap.
This means it’s more difficult for our people to get access to the training, tools and other resources that are essential to ensuring our participation in this space.
Do you want to learn more about Earth Observation?
If this all sounds interesting to you, then you’d be happy to know that the Indigenous Mapping Workshop Australia and its partners, seek to create a community of digitally empowered Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who want to learn about Earth Observation and get involved in the wider Earth Observation community.
By getting more of our people involved in, leading, and eventually running Earth Observation projects, we can use our knowledge systems coupled with technology to better protect our lands and lead climate change initiatives across the country.
If you’d like to be involved, get in touch. You can help our team craft and shape how EO learning takes place, your input is extremely beneficial to how we move this project forward.
Feature image: Courtesy of Sentinel
Graphic designed by Nani Creative