Earth Observations (EO) and geospatial decision-support systems play an increasingly critical role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the impacts of climate change, monitoring deforestation and its causes, and improving the management of protected areas and other conservation units. These systems can provide solutions to development problems in the Amazon as they bring together remote communities and marginalized groups with data and information providers in governments, the private sector and NGOs. Recent advances in remote-sensing technologies increase the coverage, timeliness and precision of the data and information that allow decision-makers to act faster in preventing disasters and illegal activities in the Amazon. Several remote sensing platforms are available, with short revisit times and high spatial resolution, to provide frequent, reliable data about the Amazon. The limitation of frequent cloud cover can now be overcome with the availability of cloud-penetrating RADAR images or high cadence optical images.
