Data in the Mist

For nearly 20 years, primatologist Dian Fossey studied the endangered mountain gorillas in the high rain forests of Central Africa's Virunga Volcano mountain range, equipped with only a camera, binoculars, altimeter, pencil and field journal. She recorded a wealth of information on the gorillas and the area's terrain and vegetation before she was murdered in Rwanda in 1985.

Her work continues thanks to scientists and researchers from several universities, zoos and government agencies. Researchers have been exploring the gorillas' habitat using geographic information systems, global positioning systems, hyperspectral data (high-resolution images recorded simultaneously in multiple wavelengths) and electronic tracking devices to map its terrain and vegetation. While the last few hundred mountain gorillas crunch on wild celery, nettles and thistles in the Rwandan rain forest, researchers at Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta crunch mountains of data gathered by satellite, space shuttle, aircraft and humans with pen and paper. By combining this with Fossey's hand-drawn maps and notes, scientists will create a complete digital record of the Virunga conservation area. Scientists can then determine the habitat's "carrying capacity," or the number of gorillas it will support, and establish a baseline for documenting future habitat loss.

"We're trying to bring technology to bear on conservation applications," says Nickolas Faust, principal research scientist at Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta. Along with that, he says, "we're trying to work with the government of Rwanda to upgrade [the country's] infrastructure to do planning, not only for gorillas, but also for other applications. We want all this information to be available for people doing land-use planning. One of the big issues in Rwanda is resettlement of the people displaced during the war."

For more information on the project, visit The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund Inter-national site at www.gorillafund.org.