sepal
Visit Website

System for Earth Observation Data Access, Processing, and Analysis for Land Monitoring (SEPAL)

Use this tool to
Derive data from satellite imagery for various land use/land cover indicators
End Product(s)

Maps, baselines, and change statistics for various land use/land cover indicators.

SEPAL is a cloud-computing platform that lets users efficiently query and process satellite imagery to perform landscape monitoring analyses. It provides access to large amounts of satellite imagery through Google Earth Engine, pre-created tools to run common geospatial analysis without coding experience, and the ability for more advanced users to program their own customized analyses. To access SEPAL, users must register for free SEPAL and Google Earth Engine accounts.

SEPAL uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud computers to process data using pre-programmed SEPAL applications or customized, user-created code (in R, Python, or in the terminal). The modules that are most relevant to restoration monitoring include SDG 15.3.1, which generates data for reporting on land degradation as part of SDG indicator 15.3.1 (similar to the Trends.Earth tool but using finer resolution data); SEPAL-MGCI beta, which supports computation of the Mountain Green Cover Index (MGCI) as part of SDG Indicator 15.4.2; Soil Moisture Mapping, which measures soil moisture over time such as for monitoring peatlands; and several time-series modules that can harness historical satellite imagery to derive measurements of land and tree cover change over time.

Scale
Landscape
Technical skills/resources required
Internet connection, Google Earth Engine account
Cost
Free
Language(s) available
English, French, Spanish