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Science and Technology Forest conservation Lidartector
科技 森林保護(hù) 激光雷達(dá)探測(cè)術(shù)
How to tell if countries are cheating on their conservation commitments
如何判斷一個(gè)國(guó)家在森林保護(hù)承諾上是否有舞弊行為
IN AN isolated forest in the Sivalik hills of south-western Nepal, intense sun beats down through the treetops.
位于尼泊爾西南部西瓦利克山脈一處偏僻的森林內(nèi),毒辣的陽(yáng)光正從樹冠強(qiáng)射而入。
A sweaty trek up a steep, rocky slope leads to a spot where a team of researchers is busy measuring the trees.
經(jīng)過一段汗流浹背的艱難跋涉，登上一處陡峭怪石嶙峋的斜坡,到達(dá)一塊區(qū)域,就可以看到一組研究人員正忙著對(duì)樹木進(jìn)行測(cè)量。
They are working for Forest Resource Assessment Nepal, a joint venture between the Nepalese and Finnish governments.
他們是尼泊爾與芬蘭政府森林資源評(píng)估合資企業(yè)的工作人員。
Two global-positioning-system devices guide the researchers to their target.
憑借兩套全球定位系統(tǒng)就可將研究人員帶到目的地。
Once there, they use tape measures, callipers and a hand-held laser to measure the heights and girths of all the trees within a 500-square-metre plot.
到達(dá)目標(biāo)后，在圈定好的500平方米區(qū)域內(nèi)，他們用卷尺，測(cè)徑規(guī)和手持激光設(shè)備對(duì)所有樹木的高度和樹圍進(jìn)行測(cè)量。
These measurements, and each tree's species, are recorded on a clipboard. One plot finished; 959 more to go.
測(cè)量結(jié)果及每棵樹的品種都會(huì)被記錄下來。一塊區(qū)域測(cè)量完成后，他們還要轉(zhuǎn)戰(zhàn)其余的959塊區(qū)域。
A classic piece of forestry, then. Boots on the ground. Specimens duly counted.
這是當(dāng)時(shí)的一種傳統(tǒng)林藝技術(shù)，采用人力進(jìn)行實(shí)地考察，準(zhǔn)確測(cè)量標(biāo)本。
But this is a study with a twist, for its purpose is to calibrate a new approach to the subject—one that will gather information by the bucketload without the need to rely on quite so many boots.
但一項(xiàng)新的研究將會(huì)使現(xiàn)狀產(chǎn)生飛躍的轉(zhuǎn)變，其目標(biāo)是針對(duì)該課題開創(chuàng)一種新的測(cè)量方法—即無須動(dòng)用眾多的人力物力就可收集到大量所需信息。
This new approach uses a technique called lidar.
這項(xiàng)新方法采用的技術(shù)稱之為"激光雷達(dá)術(shù)"。
Like its cousins radar and sonar, lidar (light detection and ranging), works by broadcasting electromagnetic waves towards a target and then building up a picture from the reflection.
與雷達(dá)和聲納技術(shù)相似，激光雷達(dá)（光探測(cè)和測(cè)距）的工作原理是通過向目標(biāo)發(fā)射電磁波然后根據(jù)反射波構(gòu)建圖像。
In the case of lidar, the waves are in the form of an infra-red laser beam.
拿激光雷達(dá)來說，其波形采用的是紅外激光束。
And in the case of the forests of south-western Nepal, the target is the trees.
以尼泊爾西南部的森林為例，被測(cè)目標(biāo)就是樹木。
During a forest survey, an aircraft-borne lidar sweeps a beam that fires about 70,000 pulses a second over the canopy.
在森林探測(cè)過程中，載有激光雷達(dá)的飛機(jī)將每秒產(chǎn)生7萬個(gè)脈沖的激光束向森林樹冠進(jìn)行掃掠，
A sensor on the aircraft records the time it takes to receive the backscattering of pulses, and that is used to compute distances to the forest canopy and to the soil beneath.
同時(shí)安裝在飛機(jī)上的探測(cè)設(shè)備會(huì)記錄收到脈沖反向散射波的時(shí)間，然后分別用于計(jì)算到樹林冠部及到土壤的距離。
The result, when processed through the computers of Arbonaut, a Finnish natural-resource-management company, is a three-dimensional image of the forest that can be correlated with, and calibrated by, the efforts of the chaps with the tape measures.
經(jīng)過芬蘭自然資源管理公司的Arbonaut計(jì)算機(jī)進(jìn)行數(shù)據(jù)處理后，便可生成與采用卷尺那幫家伙的測(cè)量結(jié)果相關(guān)并可校驗(yàn)的樹林三維圖象。
And that, in turn, can be used to estimate the amount of carbon stored in the plot examined, and extrapolated to calculate the carbon stored in larger areas of forest that have been scanned by lidar, but not measured with tapes.
接下來，它還能用于估算所測(cè)森林區(qū)域的二氧化碳儲(chǔ)存量，以此類推，激光雷達(dá)所探測(cè)的更大片森林區(qū)域的二氧化碳儲(chǔ)存量也可以計(jì)算出來，但用的可不是卷尺。
The point of the project, which should be completed by 2014, is to allow Nepal to participate in international carbon-trading schemes that pay poor countries with lots of trees not to cut them down.
該項(xiàng)目預(yù)計(jì)到2014年完成，其實(shí)際意義在于能夠讓尼泊爾參加國(guó)際碳交易計(jì)劃。該計(jì)劃向擁有大量樹木的貧窮國(guó)家支付資金，以確保其樹木不被砍伐。
The Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) scheme agreed at the United Nations' climate-change conference in Cancún last December may eventually be worth $30 billion a year.
聯(lián)合國(guó)氣候變化會(huì)議去年12月在墨西哥坎昆就減少砍伐森林和森林退化產(chǎn)生的排放計(jì)劃（REDD）達(dá)成協(xié)議，確定每年最終可用于森林保護(hù)的資金達(dá)300億美元。
Nepal wants a slice of that.
尼泊爾也想?yún)⑴c其中分得一杯羹。
Lidar monitoring may provide a way of making sure it is delivering on its side of the bargain.
激光雷達(dá)監(jiān)測(cè)可能提供了一種方法，表明尼泊爾履行森林保護(hù)協(xié)議的決心。
Until a few years ago, assessing the amount of plant matter in a forest in a cheap and accurate manner seemed an insurmountable problem, according to Eric Dinerstein, chief scientist of the World Wide Fund for Nature, a conservation group that is also involved in the Nepalese lidar project.
環(huán)保組織世界自然基金會(huì)也參與了尼泊爾激光雷達(dá)項(xiàng)目的研究。其首席科學(xué)家埃里克（Eric Dinerstein）說，幾年前，采用經(jīng)濟(jì)和準(zhǔn)確的方法對(duì)植被數(shù)量進(jìn)行評(píng)估似乎還是一項(xiàng)無法解決的難題。
Although a woodland's area can be worked out from satellite photographs, that gives only a hazy idea of the mass of the plants growing there.
盡管林地的面積能從衛(wèi)星圖片上得到，但它只能給提供我們生長(zhǎng)在那里的大片植物的粗略情況。
If Forest Resource Assessment Nepal and projects like it are successful, that will change.
如果象尼泊爾森林資源評(píng)估這樣的研究項(xiàng)目能夠取得成功，情況就會(huì)大有不同。
It will then be possible, with reasonable confidence, to pay REDD money out only to those countries that deliver the goods—or, rather, the trees—in sufficient, measurable quantities.
我們將有充分理由相信REDD計(jì)劃撥出的資金可能只會(huì)流向那些能夠提供貨真價(jià)實(shí)，或更確切的說，樹木充足且數(shù)量可測(cè)量的國(guó)家。
