Human Dimensions

The human dimensions discipline includes ways humans interact with the environment and how these interactions impact Earth’s systems. It also explores the vulnerability of human communities to natural disasters and hazards.

 

 

Human Dimensions RSS Feed
Human Dimensions

Human activities, such as the conversion of natural land to built-up areas, the cultivation of agricultural land, and the extent and type of agricultural production, movement and consumption of natural resources, can be tracked by sensors aboard Earth observing satellites. The combination of remotely sensed data with data collected by national and sub-national government agencies (such as census, disease, species diversity, and similar data) enables investigations into the impact of human activities on Earth. Additionally, these data are a vital resource for managing disaster response, such as using nighttime lights data to monitor power outages following storms or thermal anomaly data to track the movement of wildfires near populated areas.

 

Definition source: Colorado State University

You Might Also Be Interested In

Filter By

Content type
Thick smoke from fires in Bolivia and Brazil on 28 August 2024 from the VIIRS instrument aboard the NOAA-20 satellite
Worldview Image of the Week
false color image of land with large reddish area on right side indicating burned area; black area on far right indicates water
Worldview Image of the Week
True-color corrected reflectance image overlaid with aerosol optical depth from the VIIRS instrument aboard the joint NASA/NOAA Suomi NPP satellite. Image also has AERONET sites showing aerosol optical depth.
Worldview Image of the Week
Worldview image of flooded areas with flooded ares in red and surrounding areas in green
Worldview Image of the Week
False-color corrected reflectance image of burned area shown in red due to the Park Fire in California on 1 August 2024 from the VIIRS instrument aboard the joint NASA/NOAA NOAA-20 satellite
Worldview Image of the Week