START supports capacity building for the NASA project, “Global Observations of Forest and Land Cover Dynamics” (GOFC-GOLD), which was developed to improve the quality and availability of remote-sensing observations of forests and land cover at regional and global scales, and to produce useful, timely, and validated information from these data for application in land cover/land use management and research by a wide variety of users. START administers GOFC-GOLD funds to provide opportunities for scientists from developing countries to access NASA’s earth observation data and apply it for the sustainable management of land use and land cover.

Specifically, the GOFC-GOLD capacity building project supports Fellowships for training on the use of remote sensing products and provides participating scientists with opportunities to present, expand and build on their ongoing data distribution and application efforts. The project also supports advanced training institutes regional workshops, and special conference sessions for young scientists at GOFC-GOLD Regional Network meetings. START’s collaboration with NASA allows NASA and affiliated scientists to have access to START’s skills for capacity building for research and adaptation to climate change.

The GOFC-GOLD project is funded by a grant from NASA. It is managed by the International START Secretariat, in partnership with USGS/EROS, Boston University, the University of Maryland and others, in cooperation with the GOFC-GOLD Project Office and its Regional Networks.

For more information, please contact Charles Kauffman, cskauffman@start.org

Last Updated on May 3rd, 2012