Introduction:
The Mountain Gorilla Geomatics Project began in 1992 as a collaboration between Dr. H. Dieter Steklis, Vice President and Scientific Director of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International (D.F.G.F. I.) and Dr. Scott Madry formerly of the Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis located in Rutgers University, currently President of Informatics International, Inc. and Research Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The goal of the project was to use state-of-the-art Geomatics technologies in support of the on-going research activities to preserve the Mountain Gorillas in the Virunga mountains, one of the least mapped and more inaccessible areas in the world.
This project was initially designed to create maps for the use of field crews, create vegetation maps, map gorilla movements using GPS receivers, and to integrate ongoing research activities using GIS. It has been ongoing since 1992, and has grown to include researchers and scientists from many institutions and organizations around the world.
Our goal is to use advanced remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) technologies (often refered to together as "Geomatics" technologies) to provide a digitized database of the mountain gorilla habitat. The database includes layers of information that contain vegetation patterns, gorilla ranging and human use of gorilla habitat, including changes over time, and the impact of human encroachment on the reserve.
The basic questions are these:
This web site details the origins, current status, and future directions of this project, as well as allied activities being conducted by researchers around the world. The Virunga Volcano region is extremely remote, and is very poorly mapped. There is a great deal of work to do.
To start your tour, just click "next" below, or choose from the links at the bottom of each page.
Enjoy, and please support the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International in their important work -
Home and Intro ~ the Region ~ the Mountain Gorillas ~ Dian Fossey ~ Maps and Mapping ~ Aerial Photography ~ Older Satellite Images ~ Space Shuttle Radar Images ~ Digital Elevation Model ~ 3-d Elevation Models ~ Movies! ~ Disaster ~ GPS ~ GIS ~ Airborne Hyperspectral Imaging ~ National Geographic Society Exhibit ~ European Space Agency Initiative ~ Georgia Tech ~ Other Research in the Region ~ In The News ~ Congo (the movie) ~ Conclusions ~ Future Directions ~ The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International ~ Web Links ~ Contact Info
