Spatial Data Solutions (Belize)

24/02/2026

Closing out the day with an invitation to Belize’s research community!

The University of Belize Research Office, in partnership with COBEC, invites scholars, researchers, and practitioners to the National Research Conference 2026—a space to share findings, strengthen collaboration, and advance evidence-based practice and policy development.

🗓 Friday, March 20, 2026
🕗 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM
📍 Conference Center, UB Belmopan Campus
🎯 Theme: Embracing Findings from Belizean Doctoral Researchers for Evidence-based Practice and Policy Development

✅ Scan the QR code to register (limited spaces available).

16/10/2025

Not directly GIS related, but very much in the conservation field: an employment opportunity as the University of Belize's excellent Environmental Research Institute for the position of Marine Science Program Manager.

What they're looking for:

"The role requires a professional with an understanding of marine biology and ecosystem management, strong organizational abilities, and a commitment to capacity building."

May be of interest to someone, or someone you know!

11/10/2025

Always good to see remote sensing work in action: CSFI updating mangrove mapping for the Shipstern Lagoon wetland system using imagery collected by drone.

02/10/2025

Contribute your findings to the Belize Roadkill Project and help build a georeferenced dataset that will help with the conservation of Belize's wildlife. The roads are dangerous places: this is one way we can all help to make them safer. (As well as driving carefully, of course!)

18/09/2025

Congratulations, Paul! Very well deserved.

30/08/2025

22/05/2025

An early preview of the results of the LiDAR mapping around the centre of ancient Sarteneja. Can't wait to see more!

04/05/2025

Always cool to see LiDAR in use in Belize, and this time particularly close to home! A team from Michigan State University is currently in Sarteneja conducting archaeological surveys. Best of luck to them! There's so much of archaeological interest in the forests around the village, and this technology is a very useful addition to ground-based surveys.

22/04/2025

Happy Earth Day 2025! Here's a little bit of beauty from the littoral forest by northern Shipstern Lagoon this afternoon. A very beautiful ecosystem on a very beautiful day.

02/04/2025

19/03/2025

Always worth remembering the various vegetation indices available for Landsat data!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! This festive Irish holiday filled with vibrant hues of green is a fitting time to recognize Landsat’s unique perspective on greenness. The spectral bands acquired by Landsat instruments provide the foundation for a series of “greenness” indices that help scientists visualize and quantify the distribution and health of vegetation across the Earth’s land surfaces.

Did you know that Surface Reflectance-derived spectral indices can be requested from the ESPA On Demand Interface? Eight spectral indices are available, including four that provide measures of vegetation greenness.

🍀 The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is used to quantify vegetation greenness and is useful in understanding vegetation density and assessing changes in plant health.

🍀 The Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) corrects for some atmospheric conditions and canopy background noise and is more sensitive in areas with dense vegetation.

🍀 The Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI) is used to correct NDVI for the influence of soil brightness in areas with low vegetation cover.

🍀 The Modified Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (MSAVI) further minimizes the effects of bare soil in areas with low vegetation cover.

Learn more here: https://ow.ly/ajLG50ViNlc