Editing Amazon rainforest (section)

===Remote sensing===
{{See also|Environmental monitoring|Environmental management system|Unmanned aerial vehicle}}
[[File:Afternoon Clouds over the Amazon Rainforest.jpg|thumb|This image reveals how the forest and the [[atmosphere]] interact to create a uniform layer of "popcorn-shaped" [[Cumulus humilis cloud|cumulus clouds]].]]

The use of [[Remote sensing|remotely sensed]] data is dramatically improving conservationists' knowledge of the Amazon basin. Given the objectivity and lowered costs of [[Earth observation satellite|satellite-based]] land cover and -change analysis, it appears likely that remote sensing technology will be an integral part of assessing the extents, locations and damage of deforestation in the basin.<ref>{{cite journal
 |author1     = Wynne, R.H.
 |author2     = Joseph, K.A.
 |author3     = Browder, J.O.
 |author4     = Summers, P.M.
 |title       = A Preliminary Review of Neotropical Primates in the Subsistence and Symbolism of Indigenous Lowland South American Peoples
 |journal     = International Journal of Remote Sensing
 |year        = 2007
 |volume      = 28
 |issue     = 6
 |pages       = 1299–1315
 |url         = http://eea.anthro.uga.edu/index.php/eea/article/viewArticle/23
 |access-date  = September 4, 2008
|doi         = 10.1080/01431160600928609
 |bibcode     = 2007IJRS...28.1299W
 |s2cid = 128603494
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20081221153625/http://eea.anthro.uga.edu/index.php/eea/article/viewArticle/23
 |archive-date = December 21, 2008
|df          = mdy-all
}}</ref> Furthermore, remote sensing is the best and perhaps only possible way to study the Amazon on a large scale.<ref>{{cite journal
 | last=Asner | first=Gregory P.
 | author2=Knapp, David E.|author3= Cooper, Amanda N.|author4= Bustamante, Mercedes M.C.|author5= Olander, Lydia P.|author-link5=Lydia Olander
 | s2cid=31023189
 | title=Ecosystem Structure throughout the Brazilian Amazon from Landsat Observations and Automated Spectral Unmixing
 | journal=Earth Interactions |date=June 2005
 | volume=9 | issue=1 | pages=1–31 | doi=10.1175/EI134.1 |bibcode = 2005EaInt...9g...1A| doi-access=free}}</ref>

The use of remote sensing for the conservation of the Amazon is also being used by the indigenous tribes of the basin to protect their tribal lands from commercial interests. Using handheld [[Global Positioning System|GPS]] devices and programs like [[Google Earth]], members of the Trio Tribe, who live in the rainforests of southern Suriname, map out their ancestral lands to help strengthen their territorial claims.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Isaacson |first=Andy |title=With the Help of GPS, Amazonian Tribes Reclaim the Rain Forest |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2007/11/ps-amazon/ |access-date=August 11, 2023 |issn=1059-1028}}</ref> Currently, most tribes in the Amazon do not have clearly defined boundaries, making it easier for commercial ventures to target their territories.

To accurately map the Amazon's biomass and subsequent carbon-related emissions, the classification of tree growth stages within different parts of the forest is crucial. In 2006, Tatiana Kuplich organized the trees of the Amazon into four categories: mature forest, regenerating forest [less than three years], regenerating forest [between three and five years of regrowth], and regenerating forest [eleven to eighteen years of continued development].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kuplich |first=Tatiana M. |title=Classifying regenerating forest stages in Amazônia using remotely sensed images and a neural network |journal=Forest Ecology and Management |date=October 2006 |volume=234 |issue=1–3 |pages=1–9 |doi=10.1016/j.foreco.2006.05.066|bibcode=2006ForEM.234....1K }}</ref> The researcher used a combination of [[synthetic aperture radar]] (SAR) and [[Thematic Mapper]] (TM) to accurately place the different portions of the Amazon into one of the four classifications.