CSIR researchers and collaborators received the prestigious 2025 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Group Achievement Award for their involvement in the BioSCape and Airborne Remote Sensing Observatory projects.
The multidisciplinary team represented the University of KwaZulu-Natal, University of Pretoria, South African National Space Agency, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the CSIR. CSIR chief researcher Prof. Moses Azong Cho, principal researcher Dr Heidi van Deventer, senior researcher Dr Marié Smith, PhD student Dr Wessel Bonnet and Master’s student Afika Singano all contributed to the work.
The BioSCape and Airborne Remote Sensing Observatory project teams have generated valuable data and insights from the initiative that will support improved planning, conservation strategies and resource management, helping to safeguard aerospace and ecosystems for future generations.
Since 2023, Cho, Van Deventer, Bonnet, Singano and Smith, along with 150 scientists from around the world, have participated in the first biodiversity survey using airborne remote sensing observations of the Cape Floristic Region. They provided specialised knowledge to apply and test remote sensing technologies to advance environmental monitoring of various aspects of ecosystems and biodiversity. This offered a new ecological research perspective on one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots.
The combined airborne and field campaign enabled the team to deploy advanced sensors on aircraft and study the region’s ecosystem structure, function and composition, with a view of improving conservation strategies in one of the country’s most precious biodiversity regions.
NASA recognised the Airborne Remote Sensing Observatory team for outstanding achievement in advancing the understanding of ecosystems' structure, function and composition and changes over time. With a focus on “Hyperspectral Signal Processing for Terrestrial, Aquatic and Atmospheric Applications in South Africa”, the output is a synthetic spectral database that prepares South Africa to leverage future NASA imaging spectroscopy missions.
Cho and his team have developed a synthetic spectral database of soil profiles in the Greater Cape Floristic Region, based on locally parameterised radiative transfer models. This database is expected to support the real-time estimation of soil properties, particularly with the advent of new hyperspectral space missions.
The team was recognised not only for the scientific quality of its work, but also for demonstrating how collaboration and the application of geoinformatics, geographic information systems and ecological science to map and monitor ecosystems with precision can help solve complex environmental challenges. These tools enabled researchers to gather and analyse data across landscapes, including sensitive environments such as estuaries, where CSIR researchers played a key supporting role.
"It is deeply humbling to be recognised by such a prominent space agency in our specific domain of remote sensing,” says Cho. “It opens up more opportunities for collaboration with NASA and other US scientists.”
All data collected and generated throughout the BioSCape project is being freely released through relevant publications as part of sustained efforts to protect South Africa’s rich biodiversity and natural heritage.
Published 6 July 2026