Where We've Worked
Two decades of CAO missions across six continents — from Hawaiian coral reefs to Amazonian rainforests. Explore the science by region and research focus.
One last visit to the Southern Great Barrier Reef yields a topping off of coral species found on the world's longest reef system
Back to the central Caribbean, the Coral Spectranomics team completes the entirety of coral species found in that ocean basin
The team returns home to finish a complete inventory of coral species found in the Hawaiian islands.
The team heads to the Virgin Islands in the eastern Caribbean to collect coral species for the Database
The Coral Spectranomics team ventures to the Great Barrier Reef, collecting more than 250 coral species for spectral and chemical analysis
Following more than a decade of research on land that all started on Kauai, the Spectranomics team leaps to corals starting in their home waters of Miloliʻi, South Kona, Hawaii Island
The Spectranomics team unroots from the Amazon to the jungles of Borneo to collect 233 tree species for a new airborne mapping campaign designed to select and protect more than a million acres of rainforest.
The Spectranomics team heads into the Sierra Nevada mountains of California to answer the call for help from managers seeking to map and protect giant sequoia trees stressed by severe drought.
Greg and two other Spectranomics leads, Raul Tupayachi and Felipe Sinca, journey to the most remote rainforest in all of Amazonia. At the virtually untouched border between Peru and Ecuador, the three collect more than 100 new tree species, analyzing spectral, chemical and phylogenetic properties.
Heading back to the lowland Amazon basin, the Spectranomics team tests the latest CAO spectral methods to identify tree species from the air.
Marking the first fully integrated field and airborne approach to biodiversity mapping, the Spectranomics team collects canopy specimens to calibrate CAO measurements taken using its newest airborne imaging spectrometer.
In a large coordinated international campaign involving numerous organizations, the Spectranomics team leads the exploration and collection of forest canopy trees species for climate change related research.
The Spectranomics team travels to Africa to collect a database of African species. They scour the savannas and woodlands for new species, dodging lions and leopards, on the hunt for African biodiversity maps.
In another first, the Spectranomics team climbs trees in the lowland Amazon basin while the CAO flys overhead, calibrating each species to the spectrometer measurements taken from the aircraft.
The Spectranomics Team joins forces with scientists from Oxford University and others to test the links between spectral, chemical, and ecological processes among trees along an Amazon to Andes elevation gradient.
The Spectranomics field team continues scouring the Amazon for new tree species.
They finish their Ecuadorian visit to the forest made famous by the Yasuni Indigenous tribe, who protect the forest at all costs. The team works with locals to collect 327 new tree species.
The team moves the operation to an treeline forest in the Ecuadorian Andes, collecting another 110 tree species.
The Spectranomics team goes on tour in Ecuador, starting in a montane bird sanctuary harboring 165 new tree species.
The Spectranomics team treks into the Peruvian uplands where the Amazon meets the base of the Andes in search of more canopy tree species for the Database. They utilize old trucks, canoes, and long hikes and tree climbs to collect more than 800 new species.
The search for new tropical tree species takes the Spectranomics team to the southern Amazon.
The Spectranomics team heads to the lowlands and montane tropical rainforests of Madagascar. While climbing and collecting foliage from hundreds of tree species, they run into a mining company systematically removing the forest. The team races to collect and catalog species doomed in the path of massive bulldozers.
The Spectranomics team, including team members based in Hawaii, California, and Peru, venture into the lowlands of Borneo to collect a new part of the plant kingdom. They collect 242 new species for spectral and chemical properties.
The Spectranomics team heads into the remote jungle of the Osa Pennisula in Costa Rica. They set up base camp and climb hundreds of tall canopy trees, extending the Database to more species for future airborne applications.
The Spectranomics team heads uphill into the Peruvian Andes to reach treeline where watersheds feed the Amazonian lowlands. Another 274 species are collected for the Database.
The Spectranomics team breaks itss own record for the number of canopy tree species collected at one site - 561 - in one of the most remote jungles in the Amazon Basin.
The Spectanomics team heads to the Amazonian village of Jenaro Herrera, famous for its species-rich forest canopy. They collect nearly 400 new canopy tree species for the Database.
The Spectranomics team travels to Monteverde to collect more than 400 canopy tree species for the Database.
The Spectranomics team packs up for Panama to collect canopy tree species for the Database. They climb more than 400 trees in the Panama Canal region and use canopy cranes to access some of the tallest trees in Central America.
Heading into the highlands of Puerto Rico, the Spectranomics team adds Caribbean tropical trees to the global Database.
The Spectranomics team heads to southern Florida, known as the far northern reach of tropical forest canopy species to expand the Database.
Two years of fieldwork culminate in the most comprehensive spectral library of tropical tree species ever assembled. Hundreds of species cataloged — their chemical fingerprints now readable from above. The ground truth is complete. Spectronomics can fly.
In preparation for future biodiversity mapping flights in the Amazon Basin, the Spectranomics team heads to the Peruvian lowlands to collect the world's first Amazon canopy library of species and their spectral-chemical properties. This sets in motion a worldwide tour of tropical canopies that will ultimately become the Spectranomics Database.
Greg and colleague Dr. Robin Martin are in the far back side of Limahuli Valley on Kauaʻi island. Their field spectrometers are not telling the story that was told to them as students just a decade earlier. That story said all plants have similar chemistries and color. But their instruments reveal nothing but uniqueness among co-existing plant species, each with a different chemistry and spectral signal, despite being "green" to the naked eye. The Spectranomics concept was born in that remote valley on Kauaʻi.
With the new Tanager-1 hyperspectral satelliet in Earth orbit, the tam sets out with coordinated flights to assess the potential of the satellite to map terrestrial biodiversity, chemistry, and physiology.
For a nineth year of data, the team maps live coral across the State of Hawaiʻi to assess long-term change and the effects of different marine management approaches on reef condition.
GAO flights focus on methane emissions in support of the upcoming Tanager satellite launch
GAO flights focus on methane emissions in support of the upcoming Tanager satellite launch
California land managers and scientists bring GAO back for more invasive weed mapping. Read the research: Mapping distribution patterns of invasive alien species in the Santa Monica Mountains using airborne imaging spectroscopy and line-point transect data.
Time for another coral checkup in Hawaii, where the team uncovers substantial regrowth of corals for the first time in five years
The team goes home to support federal and state agencies with coral reef and water quality mapping following the severe destructive fires on Maui
Returning to Texas to support Tanager satellite validation — building on prior methane mapping campaigns in the region as part of the final push toward satellite launch.
Colorado campaign preparing for Tanager as launch date gets closer
The team heads to cowboy country to check methane emissions from the coal industry
Oregon validation flights for the Tanager satellite mission — expanding the geographic range of the airborne dataset used to prepare the satellite for operational use.
Airborne validation flights over California supporting the Tanager satellite mission — one of several regional campaigns building the ground-truth dataset ahead of global deployment.
Preparations continue for the new Tanager satellite, with mapping flights to hone sea, air, and land algorithms
More garbage dump mapping, the great state of Illinois is home to some of the highest methane emissions recorded
The team returns home to assess coral recovery following the 2015 and 2019 marine heatwaves
Validation flights over Ohio in preparation for the Tanager satellite mission — building the airborne dataset needed to confirm the satellite's methane detection capabilities before launch.
Back east, the team maps New Yorks population-driven greenhouse gas emissions
Heading north, the team maps greenhouse gases from a wide range of sources
Checking in on Texas, the team continues to find unaddressed methane emissions from the oil industry
In a new twist, the team races from garbage dump to dump, revealing massive methane emissions that ultimately threaten coral reefs
A return to Rocky Mountain methane emissions from mining, infrastructure, and cattle feed lots
GAO is contracted again to loiter in the sky over shipping, assessing methane and other missions from the world's seaward commerce
A focus on water quality in the American South reveals multiple pollutants in patterns unseen until now.
A focus on water quality in the American South reveals multiple pollutants in patterns unseen until now.
The preparation for the Tanager hyperspectral satellite begins with a ridge-to-sea mapping of California
A pass through the Arizona desert reveals greenhouse gas emissions from cities, landfills, airports, and cattle feed lots
GAO focuses on the creation of a new sea-air-land mapping method in preparation for new hyperspectral satellites
GAO focuses on the creation of a new sea-air-land mapping method in preparation for new hyperspectral satellites.
GAO focuses on the creation of a new sea-air-land mapping method in preparation for new hyperspectral satellites.
GAO focuses on the creation of a new sea-air-land mapping method in preparation for new hyperspectral satellites.
In an unplanned opportunity, the team strikes at the Florida Keys, finding less than 3% remaining live coral cover following land pollution, disease, and marine heatwaves
Back in California, the team maps and delivers data on greenhouse gas emissions to the State government
In a first ever mapping, the team soars high above unknowing ships to reveal massive methane and carbon dioxide emissions from their exhaust stacks
The team heads back to California to map invasive grasses that generate fire in protected areas
Zipping back west, the team maps high-elevation methane missions across Colorado
Another stop in Texas reveals that many past oil industry emissions persist and have not been capped.
The team flys east to map coal country, finding methane emission sources dotting the state of Pennsylvania
GAO joins the State of California intent on reducing their greenhouse gas emissions using our operational "map and cap" approach
Continuing across the country, the team finds methane leaks in city infrastructure including a pipe in a populated neighborhood
The team redeploys across the mainland U.S., starting in Texas to assess its methane emissions from oil industry infrastructure
The GAO team returns home following a second marine heatwave in Hawaii, finding nearly 20% loss in some areas
Renamed Global Airborne Observatory, the GAO team begins a multi-year commitment to map climate changing methane emissions across the mainland U.S.
As time rolls one, the team monitors the recovery of Hawaii's corals four years after its 2015 marine heatwave
The team maps coral reefs of the Dominican Republic in preparation for a new marine protected area
The team deploys to the Caribbean following the back-to-back hurricanes Irma and Maria to assess coral reef condition in support of restoration
Following the 2015 marine heatwave, the team assesses Hawaii's coral reefs and finds hope spots where they are surviving
In a followup to the megadrought, the team maps biodiversity losses and finds refugia where native species survived
The team returns home to map natural resources and threats from ridge to reef in Hawaii
The team joins forces with conservationists to map Lighthouse Reef Atoll, home of The Blue Hole, where climate change and poaching threaten reef biodiversity
The Ecuadorian government hosts the team for a wall-to-wall mapping of the Amazon, known as the highest density of tree species on Earth
A massive drought strangles California's forests, and the team is tasked with mapping the onset of forest canopy water stress to direct fire fighting and prevention actions
The UN funds CAO with a daunting mission to map Borneo in preparation for a new million-acre preserve to protect forest diversity including its iconic orangutans
The team is home in Hawaii, mapping the spread of a virulent pathogen that takes out millions of Hawaii's keystone forest species. The maps reveal that invasive pigs are spreading the pathogen, thereby providing managers with a tactic to contain the fungus -- fencing.
CAO scientists and engineers take to the lab and hangar to create a carbon-fiber interior, combined with advanced sensor systems, in preparation to explore the world.
In a final visit to South Africa, the team combines airborne laser mapping with multi-species animal tracking to unveil the complex social interactions of predators and their prey.
The team remaps Addo Elephant National Park to test management approaches intended to boost elephant populations while reducing negative impacts on habitat and vegetation.
CAO returns to Kruger in search of millions of trees that went missing across the savanna landscape. They find that wood poachers have stolen the trees for firewood, a resource is critically low supply in impoverished communities around the park.
The team combines its mapping capability with a new approach to GPS tracking of male and female lions across a regional park in eastern South Africa. They discover how lions interact wth other predators such as wild dogs and hyenas, in shaping the savanna-woodland landscape.
The team maps Addo Elephant National Park in support of research and management focused on the carrying capacity of the part to house massive herds of elephants. They discover limits to the number of elephants that the park can protect before the habitat is trampled to death.
Returning to Peru for the frouth time since 2009, the team maps the entire northern region including ultra remote areas bordering Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil. They ultimately discover an entirely new type of forest biodiversity that later becomes a new national park.
The team maps nearly all of the redwood forests of California, generating first-ever data on their massive carbon content and climate sensitivity.
In a second visit to the Colombian Amazon, the team again maps only at night using infrared lasers. Partway through the mission, the suffer a failure of an aircraft engine following a lightning strike. The team is grounded on a Colombian air force base for a month where they replace the engine in the field, complete the mission, and head home.
The team maps Stanford's biological preserve along with numerous other coastal and inland Chapparel ecosystems in support of reesearch led by Stanford researchers.
The team returns to the central Amazon, basing operations in the dusty town of Pucalpa. Operating from a remote airport, sleeping under the aircraft wing, weeks of operations yield new maps of the Amazon rainforest, carbon content, and biodiversity levels.
The CAO team takes a day to map the remote rainforests of the Osa Penninsula, driving new international research on biodiversity and forest function.
The team returns to Panama to map the entire country in support of the country's UN commitment to climate change mitigation.