“Ground Truth” is a story about seeing something when there is nothing there.
Following the quest of remote sensing researchers in Finland to develop a better interpretation model of satellite data, this project explores cutting-edge imaging techniques of forests while looking back at photography’s love affair with natural landscapes. Researchers collect ground truth data through meticulous on-site measurements of trees. Ground truth data is then used to model the optical properties of trees. A successful model allows us to distinguish various features of the Earth beyond what is shown optically in a satellite image. A computer-aided vision grants us the ability to exceed the resolution limit of satellite, to resurrect a tree from the data collected by satellites. Powered by advanced imaging technologies and algorithms, seeing is more abstract than ever.