
Why we need to weigh, not count, trees from space
Quantifying trees by weight, rather than by number, allows more accurate assessment of their carbon impact – and of the carbon projects affecting them.
Chloris Geospatial is an early-stage company developing technology using satellite data and artificial intelligence to create products that enable organizations to invest in nature-based solutions, reduce carbon footprint, and achieve sustainability goals. Its global biomass change product provides estimates of changes in terrestrial carbon storage in a commodity supply region, detecting deforestation and forest degradation, and estimating the contribution of regrowth. Its prototype operates at moderate resolution data and can measure changes in stock and the fluxes to the atmosphere at jurisdictional and large project scale. It is developing a medium resolution product to monitor change at operational scale.
Quantifying trees by weight, rather than by number, allows more accurate assessment of their carbon impact – and of the carbon projects affecting them.
Hydropower energy offers one of the clearest examples of how the location of renewable energy infrastructure can have unintended consequences.

