Forest Change Detection App

An interactive web application for analyzing forest cover changes over time using satellite imagery from Google Earth Engine. Users can select any area on earth, define a time period, and retrieve deforestation statistics derived from the Hansen Global Forest Change dataset. Check it out https://forest-change-detection-app.onrender.com/

Features

• Interactive map with satellite basemap (ESRI World Imagery)
• Area selection by drawing a rectangle directly on the map
• Time period selection via dual-handle slider (2000–2024)
• Location search powered by OpenStreetMap Nominatim
• Forest loss analysis returning total forest area, loss area, and loss percentage
• Year-by-year forest loss breakdown visualized as a bar chart
• Real-time forest loss overlay rendered on the map
• CSV export of yearly analysis results

Tech Stack

Backend

• Python 3
• Flask
• Google Earth Engine Python API (earthengine-api)

Frontend

• HTML / CSS / JavaScript
• Leaflet.js (interactive map)
• Chart.js (bar chart visualization)

Data Sources

• Hansen Global Forest Change v1.12 (2024) — University of Maryland, accessed via Google Earth Engine. Dataset covers global forest cover and loss from 2000 to 2024 at 30m resolution.

  • Dataset catalog page

• ESRI World Imagery — Basemap tiles

• ESRI World Boundaries and Places — Label overlay