Mapping forest clearing worldwide
A project for World Resources Institute
THE PROJECT
Global Forest Watch 2.0 is an initiative by the World Resources Institute that brings transparency to forest conservation. Through a complex alert system of satellites and mobile technologies, it monitors the status of forests through time. All the data is open and anyone can use it.
This project is our first (but not the last) collaboration with the initiative. It’s a prototype for visualizing forest clearing data worldwide in a timeline.
How we helped:
- Interaction and visual design
- Front-end and back-end development
- Map design and development
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
THE VIDEO
This video explains the basics of Global Forest Watch 2.0 prototype.
-
THE CHALLENGE
The main challenge was to show a huge amount of data in a user-friendly and technically feasible way. Our design and technical teams worked closely to achieve it.
-
THE SOLUTION
We developed a solution that makes the most of the possibilities of modern browsers: HTML5 canvas, Backbone and custom extensions. For the backend we used exclusively CartoDB, our geospatial solution.
-
THE RESULTS
We are really happy with this first approach to forest clearing visualization. It allowed us to experiment new HTML5 techniques that boost the rendering and animation possibilities in the browser. Stay tuned for the final version of Global Forest Watch 2.0!
HIGHLIGHTS
-
Temporal exploration
The application allows the user to explore forest clearing worldwide along the last 6 years, showing how it evolved though time.
-
Advanced visualization techniques
We used pixel operations over HTML5 canvas to animate the forest clearing representation.
-
Data analysis
CartoDB was used to perform complex analysis over the data, in order to optimize the amount of it to be sent to the browser side.