Category: Earth Observation News
European Space Solutions
Discover what space brings to your life, 5-7 November , Munich
About
The ‘European Space Solutions’, a major 3-day conference from 5 to 7 November at Alte Kongresshalle in Munich will bring together business and the public-sector with users and developers of space-based solutions. Participants will gather insights about current developments and society needs, learn how space technology can make a real difference to their lives/business, and get informed about business support and finance opportunities for business, SMEs, individuals.
The conference will be accompanied by an interactive public exhibition showcasing the many benefits of the EU space programmes in the new European Space Expo at Bavariapark.
The Venue
Alte Kongresshalle (Old Congress Hall)
Theresienhöhe 15
80339 Munich
Germany
www.altekongresshalle.de/en/information
CEOI Challenge Workshop discusses UK interests in future Earth Observation satellite missions.
(September 2013) In the last 6 years, the CEOI has held a range of workshops and round tables meetings with the space community and assembled a portfolio of Earth Observation missions that the UK would like to be involved in. Over that period, ESA programme policy and future mission flight opportunities have evolved, making it timely to revisit this portfolio.
To do this, CEOI held a Challenge Workshop held on Friday 7th June 2013, which surveyed 17 UK mission ideas and invited experts to comment on mission selection, promotion and opportunities in the near term. The main focus was on UK interests in the development and delivery of future missions for Earth Observation, but the meeting also explored the preferred UK approach to the ESA Earth Explorer 9 selection process. The workshop built on discussions at the UK Space Agency Town Meeting (13th May).
For information on each of the 17 potential satellite missions discussed, please visit our website at http://www.ceoi.ac.uk/. If you are interested in discussing further any of these future potential space missions, please contact the CEOI Director, Professor Mick
Johnson: Tel: +44 (0)1438 774421 or email: mick.johnson@astrium.eads.net.
Notes to Editors:
The Centre for Earth Observation Instrumentation (CEOI) is a catalyst for the development of technologies for environmental and security monitoring from space. The CEOI was created in 2007 and is funded by the UK Space Agency and industry. The Centre has a key aim to develop the next generation of Earth observation instrumentation through the teaming of scientists and industrialists and the funding of leading edge projects. These projects reflect the imperatives associated with monitoring of climate change and the environment – investing in clearly identified gaps in instrumentation requirements, thus maximizing impacts of UK developed technologies in European programmes. The CEOI is led by Astrium Ltd, in partnership with the University of Leicester, Science and Technology Facilities Council / Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and QinetiQ Ltd. www.ceoi.ac.uk
Call for Papers – Earth Observations on Health Prediction
Earthzine.org, an IEEE-sponsored online scientific journal, is soliciting articles of 800 to 3,000 words for its fourth 2013 quarterly theme, “Earth Observations on Health Prediction.”
The theme aims to highlight the relevance and value of Earth Observations (EO) — from satellites, to buoys and land networks — for health and safety. EO examples include: Visible, IR, and Water Vapor satellites, Dual-pol Radars, and Ground-Station Networks for the atmosphere; and Gliders, Pier Stations, and Water Sampling for the oceans.
Specific topics of interest for this theme include:
- EO instruments that have demonstrated utility in health predictions and safety preparedness
- Tools and methods that are new and/or beneficial in connecting EO to health and safety
- Communication techniques for explaining EO outcomes for health prediction to multi-disciplinary audiences
- Translation of research-to-operation examples, successes, trials, and errors
- Communication of EO for health to multi-disciplinary audiences with Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
- Education and training efforts for students and practitioners
- Case studies in using EO for warning of particular water- or vector-borne diseases and disasters
- Lessons learned and errors identified in applying EO for health and safety
- Unexpected health-related findings that emerged from EO research
- Value of EO for health (a cost/benefit study and/or analysis)
The connection between environment and health is seldom an intuitive one, yet the reality is that they are inextricably linked. EO provides seamless planetary information that enables the unification of the physical, biological, and chemical worlds. As such, it is the essential underpinning for health decision-support that can lead to warnings for impending danger or wellness information during favorable conditions. The vast spatial and temporal coverage that EO provides expands science and service capacities and helps to generate lead-time awareness on the order of months to days, and thus contributes to more informed health and medical decisions, which in turn promotes healthier communities.
We invite you to submit an article and become part of a growing, professionally diverse community and global readership network working to build the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). We welcome articles about programs, projects, organizations, examples of interdisciplinary and/or cross-regional research, latest discoveries, and unusual findings. We also publish opinion essays, book reviews, and art reviews. Submissions must be in English. Submit inquiries and articles to Guest Editors via jkart@earthzine.org.
Important dates: Queries to the editor may be sent at any time. Submissions of original articles, letters, opinions, book and art for review will be accepted until Dec. 1, 2013.
Publication: All accepted contributions will undergo review by subject-matter experts, be published online at Earthzine.org, and be freely accessible to the public. Earthzine does not charge authors for publishing.
Please consult our Writer Guidelines for further information: earthzine.org/writers-guidelines/
More information:
- Themes page www.earthzine.org/themes-page/
- About page www.earthzine.org/about/
- Reviewer Guidelines www.earthzine.org/about/reviewer-guidelines/
- GEO page www.earthobservations.org/index.shtml
Guest Editors for Health:
- Wendy Marie Thomas: wendy.marie.thomas@noaa.gov. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA. American Meteorological Society, Board on Environment and Health, Member
- John Haynes: jhaynes@nasa.gov. National Aeronautical and Space Administration, NASA. American Meteorological Society, Board on Environment and Health, Member
- Suzette Morman: smorman@usgs.gov. United States Geological Survey, USGS
Earthzine:
- Editor-in-Chief: Paul E. Racette: editor@earthzine.org
- Managing Editor: Jeff Kart: jkart@earthzine.org
- Deputy Editor: Daniel McInerney: dmcinerney@earthzine.org
Geodata for Disaster Protection
Essen/Karlsruhe – The cooperation between the German Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Centre for Satellite Based Crisis Information (ZKI) at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) indicates the important role that geodata plays in preventing and tackling natural disasters. The cooperation aims to provide emergency rescue crews with up-to-date satellite-based maps.
“During the recent floods in Germany, the DLR’s Centre for Satellite Based Crisis Information created over 50 satellite-based maps and made them available to the crisis teams, command centres, national aid organisations and helpers on-site. This underlines the importance of remote sensing based information in the management of crisis situations”, says Prof. Günter Strunz, Head of Department at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) and a speaker at this year’s INTERGEO conference.
Effective crisis management
Disaster protection is considered one of the most important areas of application for geodata – both nationally and internationally. In the wake of the formidable tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004 and the devastating earthquakes in Haiti in 2010 and Japan in 2011, it was geodata that supplied satellite data. This data helped the rescue services coordinate their efforts quickly on-site.
When disaster strikes, it is important first and foremost to identify the exact location of the incident and the people affected. Fast access to images of crisis areas enables rapid damage analysis, which is crucial for crisis management teams.
Prevention through simulation
In the long term, however, geodata does more than provide a reliable basis for assessing dangers and risks. It can be used, above all, for analysing, modelling, localising and visualising crisis-relevant circumstances. For flood-affected areas, for example, information on the spread of flooding is of the utmost importance. The data collected by satellite or surveying flights can be used to create three-dimensional digital models for the purpose of simulating floods. The information gained in this way provides the authorities with important reference points in case of crisis.
Meeting point for an innovative sector
“The leading global suppliers of geoinformation services whose technologies play an important role in the prevention and management of disasters are meeting once again at INTERGEO, the world’s leading trade fair for geodesy, geoinformation and land management in Essen,” says Olaf Freier, Managing Director of Hinte GmbH, which stages INTERGEO on behalf of the DVW.
Key participants include, for instance, providers specialising in surveying flights over large areas and suppliers of the requisite technology, e.g. satellites or 3D laser scanners.
INTERGEO conference
The INTERGEO conference in 2013 will welcome distinguished national and international speakers to Essen to address topics such as Open GeoData and energy issues, cloud computing, 3D and new technologies, urban development and property valuation. The conference will, of course, also train the spotlight on the many ways of using geodata for disaster protection and management. “Due to recent events and as an excellent example of how geoinformation can be used in business processes, this topic is sure to attract a great deal of interest at the INTERGEO conference and feature in the presentations of many speakers,” says Hagen Graeff, Chief Representative of DVW gGmbH, which deals with content-related issues for INTERGEO. The German Association of Surveying – German Society for Geodesy, Geoinformation and Land Management (DVW) is the host of INTERGEO.
A further highlight will be the 2nd National INSPIRE Conference, which this year is dedicated to municipal issues as part of the conference.
About INTERGEO
INTERGEO is the world’s leading trade fair for geodesy, geoinformation and land management. A total of 16,000 visitors from 80 countries came to the latest communication platform to find out about the innovations in the industry from 525 companies from 32 countries.
DigitalGlobe and Esri to Provide Premium Services to ArcGIS Online Users
In conjunction with Esri, we are pleased to announce that ArcGIS Online users will now have access to DigitalGlobe’s Premium Services. Revealed today at the plenary address during the Esri User Conference (#EsriUC), the new offering brings expanded geospatial products and solutions to select users of ArcGIS Online on a subscription basis.
With this exciting partnership, DigitalGlobe’s Global Basemap, FirstLook, and Multispectral Premium Services can now be seamlessly integrated into the workflow of ArcGIS users, allowing them to access the most current imagery and information available directly from the source!
“Accessing high resolution imagery with ArcGIS has taken a giant leap forward,” said Lawrie Jordan, Esri director of imagery. “The new DigitalGlobe Premium Services enable everyone to benefit from quick and easy access to one of the best collections of high resolution imagery through ArcGIS Online.”
“The Premium Services partnership will serve as the next era in the expansion of our relationship with Esri,” said Bert Turner, senior vice president, sales at DigitalGlobe. “We’re excited to work with Esri, the GIS market leader, to bring users of ArcGIS Online some of the most advanced imagery services available today.”
The Global Basemap Premium Service provides some of the best available natural color and panchromatic imagery. This imagery is available as a cached tile service with vast coverage of the U.S. and Canada. This service will be regularly updated to reflect new, high quality imagery from DigitalGlobe.
The FirstLook Premium Service is a disaster and crisis monitoring service populated with imagery when a qualifying event occurs, such as a natural disaster, manmade crisis, political instability, or human interest occurrence. Through this service, users have access to near real-time post-event imagery as well as pre-event imagery for comparison.
The Multispectral Premium Service offers access to rich, full resolution multispectral content through an ArcGIS Online interface running on a highly scalable cloud architecture. The service and the content it hosts can be tailored to the client’s specific project needs. Users who require highly detailed imagery for image analytics, geodatabase updates, and surface change analysis can work with DigitalGlobe experts to maximize the value of the subscription.
Attendees of the Esri User Conference can stop by DigitalGlobe booth #2101 to learn more.
ESA's Largest Scientific Event Of The Year
(10 June 2013) Organised and hosted by ESA with the support of the UK Space Agency, the Living Planet Symposium on 9–13 September in Edinburgh, UK brings together scientists and users to present their latest findings on Earth’s environment and climate derived from satellite data.
The programme outlines over 1700 presentations during nine daily parallel sessions and three poster sessions.
The presentations will cover the scientific themes of oceanography, solid Earth and geodesy, atmosphere, climate and meteorology, cryosphere, hazards, methodologies and products, near-Earth environment and land applications.
On the first morning of the symposium, parallel tutorial sessions on state-of-the-art observation techniques of Earth’s land, oceans, ice and atmosphere from space will be given by lead scientists from Europe.
The tutorials will be followed by the opening plenary session, and media will later be invited for a press briefing and a question-and-answer session before the parallel sessions get into full swing.
Special sessions will be dedicated to ESA programmes and initiatives, including the Climate Change Initiative and other international cooperation initiatives, as well as Europe’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security programme, being renamed ‘Copernicus’.
Exhibitions about ESA, the UK Space Agency and many other partners from research and industry will complement the event.
ESA’s current and future Earth Explorer missions will also come into focus. The next mission, Swarm, is due for launch later this year to map Earth’s magnetic field.
At the beginning of May, Biomass was selected to become the seventh Earth Explorer. The satellite will be designed to provide, for the first time from space, radar measurements that are optimised to determine the amount of biomass and carbon stored in the world’s forests with greater accuracy than ever before.
Grants from ESA and the EU will financially support the attendance of over 100 European students at the symposium.
(source: ESA)
The Group on Earth Observations Transitions to Greater Outreach
Interview by By Matt Ball for Sensors&Systems. The Group on Earth Observations (GEO) is working to build the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) by coordinating collaborative capacity across Member nations. Sensors & Systems (S&S) editor Matt Ball spoke with Barbara J. Ryan, GEO secretariat director, at the recent Geospatial World Forum in Rotterdam. The conversation covered the mission and outlook for the group, as well as a new directive for broader outreach to the public and the private sector.
S&S: We first met when you were at the U.S. Geological Survey and were promoting the National Map. What has been your path to the international role as secretariat director at GEO?
Ryan: Well, Matt, I joined the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) right out of college and never did I expect to spend the majority of my career (34 years) there. It was during my last eight years there, from 2000 to 2008, that I was associate director for geography. It was in that capacity that I managed remote sensing, the topographic mapping program (The National Map), and the USGS geographic analysis and monitoring research functions.
While The National Map had a domestic focus, we would interact internationally, much like this meeting, with other national mapping agencies around the world to see their technological and policy developments. We were all facing the same challenges, primarily how to move all this information from paper into a digital arena, and how to share the information more broadly.
The remote sensing part of the job also allowed us to establish international partnerships, largely based on the Landsat program. When the USGS assumed flight operational responsibilities for Landsat back in 1999, with NASA building and launching the satellites, and the USGS handling operations for Landsats 5 and 7, we became a full member on the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS). It was several years later that CEOS stepped up to become the space coordination arm of GEO. So, that’s generally how I became familiar with GEO, and then about five years later I moved into the director’s position here.
S&S: Is the primary goal of GEO around monitoring global change?
Ryan: The primary goal is the assurance of Earth observations so that we can address society’s environmental problems. While many of our activities are targeted toward monitoring global change, we’re actually more concerned about the assurance, continuity, sustainability and interoperability of observing systems, so that monitoring across multiple domains can be done. .Governments, research organizations and others actually do the monitoring, we just want to make sure that the assets are in place, and that the data from these monitoring efforts is shared broadly. One of GEO’s primary objectives is to advocate broad, open data sharing, particularly if the data was collected at taxpayer expense — the citizens of the world should have access to that information.
S&S: So, gaps in Earth observation is part of the mission, along with cataloging what is in place and knowing what is planned?
Ryan: Yes, there are several targeted gaps in observing systems, either temporal or spatial gaps in key data sets, as well as inadequate access to information in different areas of the world.
S&S: One of the things that has fascinated me about the history of Landsat is the ongoing need to get data back from ground stations around the world in order to create an archive. Because, given its longevity, there simply wasn’t the technology to archive all the information centrally when the program began.
Ryan: Yes, you are right, and that’s actually an interesting story because the on-board capabilities were not robust enough with the early satellites to have on-board storage recorders. The program had to use international ground stations to download data so that storage space for the next collect could be made available.
So, while the United States needed those ground stations around the world to store data, the funny thing about the approach is that it built an international network that has survived and actually thrived over the last 40 years. I am convinced that the reason Landsat is so popular and used more around the world than almost any other satellite is because of the roots of the international ground station network.
While the USGS continues to interact with the international ground stations to ensure a copy of all the historic data is stored in the USGS archive, I think there’s still a fair amount that is not back in a centralized archive, so that effort is ongoing.
S&S: Doesn’t the depth and completeness of the archive become critical when wanting to explore global change?
Ryan: Absolutely. I would argue that one needs 20, 30 and 40-year views on how the landscape is changing to truly study the impact humans are having on the landscape, including, agricultural practices, urban growth, glacial loss, climate change, and the list goes on.
S&S: One observation approach that I’m really excited about is the National Science Foundation (NSF) National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) that incorporates both ground-based and aerial observation, with a view toward a 20-year consistent record to understand climate change.
Ryan: NEON was just getting its start when I left the USGS, and we are now working at GEO to strengthen our relationship with the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the US, and similar organizations around the world. From a US perspective, the federal agencies that are most involved in GEO are the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA, USGS, the Smithsonian, USEPA, and increasingly the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
A best practice here in Europe that we are trying to encourage globally is that of the European Commission’s Framework Programme. The Commission earmarks research, science and technology resources for GEOSS implementation. So, the calls for proposals that go out to European researchers requests that the proposers articulate how their project will advance GEOSS implementation. It has been a good way of advancing GEO goals through the European Commission, and we would love to see the same kind of agreement with the research funding agencies of China, Japan, the United States, and many others.
S&S: I was excited to see that the European Space Agency (ESA) selected the biomass mission as the next satellite to be developed to better understand the Earth. The peer review of Earth Explorer missions seems a novel approach to prioritize and define the next earth observation missions.
Ryan: We’ve started to hear from some of the other communities about missions that they would have liked to see funded… What I find interesting about the approach is that more users are becoming engaged in the process. In many instances, science, cadastral and space agencies, are about pushing information out to potential users. We are trying to create more of a pull for this information – i.e. transitioning from a supply-driven to a demand-driven approach. Actions like the ESA peer review process start to create a demand-driven process as compared to a supply-driven approach, ultimately resulting in a prioritization of user needs.
S&S: I like the fact that in a constrained economic time, it still values those that define missions, and doesn’t dismiss outright, but prioritizes funding. With Europe’s Copernicus program that used to be known as the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), that’s another exciting effort that fills in gaps and takes a world-leading Earth observation approach.
Ryan: When one looks at the Copernicus Sentinel series of satellites, there is a tremendous opportunity, in collaboration with the Landsat series of satellites to have more frequent global coverage of the Earth’s land masses. In other words, when you have two Landsat satellites, you get a recurrence interval every eight days, but with the Sentinel Series in the 2016 or 2018 timeframe, you could get a recurrence interval every three days. With that frequency, one could start routinely monitoring crops from space, and not just one or two collections during the growing season, but weekly observations of the agricultural areas, and forested areas as well.
S&S: The idea of NASA’s A-Train, with a persistent string of observations with different sensors, is that something that we’re likely to see more of?
Ryan: The interplay between and among the satellites is important. Even though we have these satellites collecting data in different frequencies over the same part of the Earth, we still need in-situ monitoring for verification of what is being observed from space. We need to tie-in the ground observations with what the satellites are sensing, and this gets us back to GEO. We’re interested in integrating Earth observations, whether they are collected from a satellite, from an airplane, from a train, a ship or from a person on the ground. We are interested in bringing whatever assets there are together to answer society’s problems.
S&S: Part of the challenge is in the catalog of all the observation platforms, identifying gaps, but also collaborating to fill those gaps.
Ryan: In this regard, during the first part of GEO, from 2004 to 2009, we looked at the GEO mission as a massive cataloging effort. Then, about two years ago, we changed strategies. We transitioned to a brokering approach whereby interoperability agreements were established with institutions that have data sets and/or databases, rather than us seeking out individual data sets.
An example of this approach is illustrated with our agreement with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). WMO Members have generally registered their data in the WMO Information System (WIS). So we worked on an interoperability arrangement between GEOSS and the WIS resulting in data from one system being discovered by the other system. We are now hearing, particularly from some Members in the developing world that they are getting access to information that they didn’t know existed. WMO Members are getting biodiversity and ecosystem information that wouldn’t normally be delivered through the WIS that focuses on weather, climate and water, and GEO Members are gaining increased visibility to information in the WIS. It’s a win-win story, and we’d like to have interoperability brokering agreements with any institution that wants its environmental information broadly viewed and accessible throughout the world.
S&S: Does that tie into your outreach into the private sector, to both private satellite companies and to practitioners that are interested in the spatial analysis of this data.
Ryan: Private companies generally still sell their data, though in some instances they share it more broadly in humanitarian and disaster arenas. We aren’t advocating that every private company has to subscribe to our data sharing practices,, but if they’re a value-added provider or have additional information and/or services, we’d like to create a marketplace on our website for increased visibility and access to their products and services.
We want to show data that can be obtained for free from different organizations, largely government or scientific organizations. But there may be additional data that is not in the public domain that pertains to your area of interest, and we would like to facilitate that link as well.
S&S: Are there other ways that you’re working on engaging the private sector?
Ryan: In November our Members approved a broader stakeholder engagement strategy that would include the private sector, as well as the entire value chain: the providers of data, the value-added providers (those who build and deliver services and information products), and even the downstream representatives of our nine societal benefit areas. For instance, in agriculture it could include John Deere or Cargill; in biodiversity it might be Conservation International. There are downstream private sector providers in biodiversity, agriculture, climate, disasters, ecosystems, energy, weather, and water. In a GEO context, the private sector would also include the development banks, foundations and non profit organizations.
It’s an ecosystem, and if we really want to bring geospatial information, whether it’s imagery or data, into this century, we’ve got to recognize that everybody has a role to play and those roles, while sometimes competing, can also be complementary.
S&S: Is security part of the language at GEO, relating to global change and perhaps food security?
Ryan: We have an ongoing effort called GEOGLAM — GEO’s Global Agricultural Monitoring initiative. The goal is to use the global environmental monitoring assets to create a more food secure world. In order to do that, one must reduce the volatility of food prices, and the ranges and fluctuations that we currently experience.
Production forecasts should improve from the beginning to the end of the growing season. If we are able to bring more stability to the production forecasts, we should see less volatility in prices. When production forecasts are high; prices are low, and when production forecasts are low, prices are high. If we can flatten out the curves, advances in creating a more food secure world can follow.
Many of the 25 countries that produce 80% of the world’s crops have global forecasting capabilities. GEO is advocating that information from these countries be shared more broadly and openly, and that algorithms be harmonized so that forecasts are improved around the world. Global transparency will help create more stability and a more food-secure world.
A related aspect of the security issue is that governments do not want another government having easy access to what is happening over their domain with the fear that this information will be used against them. While this concern is recognized, most of the information that GEO is interested in transcends national boundaries. Atmospheric, oceanic and many terrestrial processes do not respect national boundaries, and actions in one part of the world often have wide-spread consequences. The benefits of broader data sharing almost always outweigh the risks associated with not sharing data.
Interview by By Matt Ball for Sensors & Systems
Eye in the sky: Earth observation in aid of development
Data gathered from the vantage point of space provide critical information to help understand how the Earth works, how its regions undergo complex changes, and what policy-makers can do to mitigate them. Earth observation satellites have been used for years to gather such data, which is then used by agencies and institutions involved in development, aid and relief support.
In natural disasters-prone Asia, countries have high demand for meteorological observation systems to predict threats more precisely. For example, precipitation data gathered by satellites has great potential to be used to warn people living in areas at risk before a flood occurs. In addition, during and after a flood, high resolution images of inundated areas can support rescue and recovery operations.
“Space technology and associated geographic information systems (GIS) applications are highly valued due to the illustrative and easy-to-understand means of presenting complicated calculations and forecasts for policy makers, technical advisers and most especially field personnel,” explains ADB Space Technology Specialist Yusuke Muraki.
For more information click here
Source: Asian Development Bank
Nature journal: Choose satellites to monitor deforestation
More than one billion people are dependent on forests for their livelihood and forests play a vital role in regulating our climate. Forests are under threat from degradation caused by expanding agriculture and illegal logging, which costs governments $10 billion a year in lost revenues. Protecting forests is a global priority and the subject of the 19th Conference of the Parties (COP-19).
REDD+, the UN’s programme to reduce carbon emissions from forest degradation, aims to do just that but requires accurate, regular and reliable information about the World’s forests in order to succeed. Satellites are the only way to accurately and regularly monitor the vast areas involved– the tropics alone make up half of the Earth’s land area, and many areas cannot be reached on foot.
DMCii’s Director of Forestry, Jim Lynch, speaks in April’s Nature science journal about the need for a new system of satellites to monitor forest degradation as part of the REDD+ programme. The article, ‘Choose satellites to monitor deforestation’ was written with Sir Martin Sweeting, Director of the Surrey Space Centre and Executive Chairman of DMCii, Professor Heiko Balzter from the University of Leicester and Professor Mark Maslin from University College London.
The authors argue that current mapping strategies are too slow and sparse, often taking the form of annual audits that fail to provide the timely information needed. They recommend two Earth Observation systems to supply the resolutions and timescales required to create an early warning system that will empower authorities with the information they need to tackle illegal logging as it happens and curb deforestation:
- A constellation of five tropical orbiting radar satellites (such as the UK’s low-cost NovaSAR) that would provide daily monitoring through cloud – common in the tropics – and darkness.
- The operation of a network of optical satellites (including existing ones like Landsat and the DMCii-operated DMC constellation) to carry out weekly or monthly monitoring of forests to detect seasonal changes to carbon stocks.
To read the article visit the Nature website