NASA has recently awarded a grant to the Seto Lab at F&ES and the Yale Himalayan Initiative to study the changing urban patterns of the Hindu Kush. Currently there is very little information available about which towns are growing and where people are moving. This is especially problematic because there is an increase in natural disasters in the region accompanied by a large increase in urban populations.
Karen Seto, Professor of Geography and Urbanization Science at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, is the principal investigator of this grant. Her team will use satellite imagery to identify how urban areas have changed over the past few decades. It is hoped that this information will help the eight countries and various relief organizations better plan for natural disasters and mitigation. Learn more about this project at the link below.