Biodiversity Survey of the Cape

The Campaign

The Biodiversity Survey of the Cape (BioSCape) was a field investigation that studied the distribution and role of biodiversity in ecosystem functions. It was NASA’s first biodiversity field program that utilized airborne remote sensing observations to improve understanding of the drivers and mechanisms of ecological and biodiversity changes. BioSCape had one deployment in October-November 2023 across the Greater Cape Floristic Region (GCFR) in South Africa. NASA’s Gulfstream III and V aircraft were equipped with remote sensing instruments such as the Airborne Visible InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer - Next Generation (AVIRIS-NG), Portable Remote Imaging Spectrometer (PRISM), Hyperspectral Thermal Emissions Spectrometer (HyTES), and Land Vegetation and Ice Sensor (LVIS). BioSCape was funded by NASA’s Biological Diversity and Ecological Conservation Program, the Republic of South Africa's Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), the National Research Foundation (NRF), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Additional Notes

Repositories

• Oak Ridge National Laboratory DAAC (ORNL)