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
