On 11th February 2025, The Small Earth Nepal (SEN) organized a talk program titled “Remote Sensing and Machine Learning for Studying Climate Effects on Vegetation” in collaboration with the Kathmandu University (KU), at the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, School of Science, KU. The talk was delivered by Dr. Nir Krakauer, a Fulbright specialist in 2025 and Associate Professor at The City College of New York, USA. The program was attended by 23 students from KU, representing Nepal, Bangladesh, and Bhutan along with faculties from KU and Tribhuvan University (TU). The talk focused on the impacts of climate effects on vegetation growth and cover. Dr. Krakauer explained the limiting factors for plant growth due to climatic factors like: solar radiation, water balance, and temperature and the impact of climate change on plant growth.
He briefed on the importance of Remote Sensing in plant monitoring for rapid data acquisition, broad global coverage with uniform quality, and good spatial and spectral resolution. He further explained the change in vegetation cover using the indices like Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and evapotranspiration rate caused by temperature change. He shared the findings of a case study on factors affecting the vegetation in Nepal.
The talk was an informative and engaging experience for students. They interacted with Dr. Krakauer and discussed further applications of Remote Sensing. It helped them understand the effect of climatic factors on plant growth and the use of Remote Sensing for a large-scale view of plant growth as well as climate impacts on plant growth.
