What happens after planting? How Ecologi and our partners monitor trees funded by our community
Katie Pownall
Glossary of terms
Glossary of terms
Enhanced vegetation index (EVI)
The Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) is an advanced vegetation index created with high sensitivity to biomass, atmospheric background, and soil condition. The value of EVI ranges from 0 to 1. A value closer to 1 represents healthy vegetation and a value closer to 0 represents unhealthy vegetation.
ERA5
ERA5 is the fifth generation European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts atmospheric reanalysis of the global climate covering the period from January 1940 to present. ERA5 is produced by the Copernicus Climate Change Service. It provides hourly estimates of a large number of atmospheric, land and oceanic climate variables.Â
GIS model
A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a tool that can process, display, and integrate different data sources including maps, digital elevation models (DEMs), GPS (global positioning system) data, images, and tables. A GIS data model enables a computer to represent real geographical elements as graphical elements.Â
Normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI)
NDVI is used to quantify vegetation greenness and is useful in understanding vegetation density and assessing changes in plant health. NDVI always ranges from -1 to +1. NDVI values close to +1, shows a high possibility of dense green leaves.
PALSAR/PALSAR-2
The PALSAR-2 aboard the satellite ALOS-2 is a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), which emits microwaves and receives the reflection from the ground to acquire information. It is an all-weather observing capability suitable for monitoring disasters rapidly.
QGIS software
QGIS is a free and open-source cross-platform desktop geographic information system (GIS) application that supports viewing, editing, printing, and analysis of geospatial data.
Sentinel-2
SENTINEL-2 is a European wide-swath, high-resolution, multi-spectral imaging mission. The full mission specification of the twin satellites flying in the same orbit but phased at 180°, is designed to give a high revisit frequency of 5 days at the Equator.
Soil adjusted vegetation index (SAVI)
The Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI) is a vegetation index that attempts to minimise soil brightness influences using a soil-brightness correction factor. This is often used in arid regions where vegetative cover is low.
World Resources Institute (WRI) land cover
WRI is a global nonprofit organisation that works with leaders in government, business and civil society to research, design, and carry out practical solutions that simultaneously improve peopleâs lives and ensure nature can thrive. WRI land cover (Dynamic World) is a 10-metre resolution near real time global land use land cover dataset in Google Earth Engine.