Detecting Gold Mining in Ghana

Researchers are using satellite data to locate small mines that can cause long-term damage to forest communities and human health.

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NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey, protected area data from the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), and mining data from Center for Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Services (CERSGIS) and SERVIR West Africa. Ground photo by Ruth McDowall. Story by Kasha Patel.

Published June 2, 2021
Data acquired April 30, 2020

Sources:

Landsat 8 > OLI

Photograph

Collection:

Applied Sciences