Explorers

Data Science & Analytics

Case A: IBM & University of Alberta Researchers Collaborate to
Predict Environmental Changes

Transcript

Dr. Arturo SANCHEZ-AZOFEIFA

Professor, University of Alberta

We do a lot of monitoring of micro meteorological conditions in the forests and outside of the forest. We
don't see a separation between atmospheres soil and vegetation, it's a continuum. When I started this
project I didn't have an idea of the amount of data that I was collecting.

Saulo CASTRO-CONTRERAS
PhD candidate, University of Alberta

We have 40 nodes maybe three sensors per node and some sites we call them super sites we have well
over 200 optical sensors.

Alain BIEM
Senior Research Scientist, IBM

So we focus a lot on real time big data, and how to analyze the huge volume up there in the air. We came
up with a platform is a kind of middleware software that was created in a department a nice part of the
IBM product line.

Cassidy RANKINE
PhD candidate, University of Alberta

Previously we will have to rely a lot on teams to go into the field collect the data and what would normally
take me weeks just slaving over data I can now show them in real time so we have the ability to really
have our eyes in the field from here.

Alain BIEM
Senior Research Scientist, IBM

The way we analyze carbon is in the direction of where carbon is moving, so we do that with our streaming
analytics to see if carbon moving up or moving down from the trees.

Dr. Arturo SANCHEZ-AZOFEIFA

Professor, University of Alberta

If I want to know how much carbon our forest is absorbing it may take 6 months to find out, with IBM I
know the real time.
Explorers
Data Science & Analytics
Case A: IBM & University of Alberta Researchers Collaborate to
Predict Environmental Changes

Saulo CASTRO-CONTRERAS
PhD candidate, University of Alberta

We get continuous measurements 24 hours for 365 days, we're not only looking at a few hectares we're
able to expand this to whole regions of the country.

Dr. Arturo SANCHEZ-AZOFEIFA

Professor, University of Alberta

if we can actually predict that a drought is present let's say a hundred days before an executive decree by
a government that the clears that is a drought, you can have a hundred days ahead for planning and
reputation. It’s allowing us to actually have more impact on policy. I see in the next five years better
visualization techniques, better apps, better training of graduate students, and a better understanding of
full ecosystem processes that we don’t have today.