New NASA-USAID grant to study urbanization and deforestation in Ghana

Ghana has experienced significant deforestation over the last decades. Much of the tropical forest has been lost as a result of agricultural expansion, mining, logging, and rapid urbanization.

Our new project funded by NASA and USAID aims at examining these changes in Eastern and Central Ghana. More specifically, our goal is to model the linkages between deforestation, urbanization and agricultural expansion and identify potential competition between these land-use changes.

The project is led by Prof. Jasmeet Judge who works in the UF Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department. Our team involves researchers from the US and Ghana. The project has been awarded by SERVIR, a joint venture between NASA and USAID to help developing countries use Earth-observing satellites and geospatial technologies for managing climate risks and land use.