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Long-term observation of the earth is essential for studying the factors affecting global environmental changes. Digital earth technology can facilitate the monitoring of global environmental change with its ability to process vast amounts of information. In this study, we map the forest cover change of Myanmar from 2000 to 2005 using a training data automation procedure and support vector machines algorithm. Our results show that Myanmar's forests have declined 0.68% annually over this six-year period. We validated our derived change results and found the overall accuracy to be greater than 88%. We also assessed forest loss from protected areas, areas close to roads, and areas subject to fire, which were most likely to lose forested area. The results revealed the main reasons for forest losses in some hotspots to be increased agricultural conversion, fire, and the construction of highways. This information is useful for identifying the driving forces behind forest changes and to support environmental policy development in Myanmar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global change has a significant impact on the lives of humankind. Earth observation can help to better understand our earth and cope with global change. With the availability of more reliable environmental data sets, digital earth is becoming a popular way to monitor the Earth and provide information to researchers and decision makers on environment protection, disaster mitigation, and social benefits. Therefore, accessing data with lowering costs is essential for digital earth. Nevertheless, there are big challenges in ensuring the feasibility of access to Chinese remote sensing data. This paper outlines some of the main challenges in realizing data sharing, provides an analysis of the core reasons leading to these challenges, and proposes recommendations to overcome the challenges. Amongst the main challenges are differences in data policy to gain access to satellite data, diverse data formats, and delivery mechanisms. The major challenge for the decision makers is to define a more open policy and for the scientist the challenge is to implement these polices for the benefit of all. This paper proposes that governments should adopt policies encouraging more open distribution and access to their data, in order to generate an improved digital earth with increased benefits to human society. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]