The Open Landscape Partnership Platform (OLPP) is a joint initiative of satellite data providers, distributers, value-added processors, and end users across the world aimed at creating a vibrant global community of practice that would significantly expand competent demand for affordable open access to very high spatial and temporal resolution satellite data (2 meters and one month or better) that could be suitable for wide-ranging, sustained non-profit use in the interests of public accountability, transparency and sustainability of land/natural resource management and conservation practices across jurisdictions at a critical landscape, habitat, and hotspot level.
In support of high-resolution satellite data application by environmental education organizations the Open Landscape Partnership Platform (www.openlandscape.info) is planned to be launched at the end of 2013. This was announced on October 1 at the 6th International Conference “Earth from Space – the Most Effective Solutions”.
The Platform was presented by Andrei Kushlin, Program Manager of the Global Tiger Initiative of the World Bank (USA ) and Dmitry Aksenov, General Director of NGO “Transparent World” (Russia). The aim of the program is to strengthen the public monitoring of environmental “hot spots” and of nature protection landscapes of our planet and to conduct their monitoring.
To increase the efficiency of environmental management, reasonable handling of natural resources within the protected natural areas, of valuable forests and rare landscapes with unique species composition the organizers of the “Open Landscape” program plan to use multi-temporal high resolution satellite images and the advanced crowd-mapping technology (drawing maps applying efforts of a wide range of volunteers around the world) and open monitoring tools.
The “Open Landscape” program first of all will assist the existing and fledgling partnerships between local universities and non-profit organizations in Russia and other countries, engaged in land use solutions (such as national parks and other protected natural areas, municipalities, departments of regional planning, local forest subdivisions and hunting farms, etc.), who are interested in the responsible management of critical habitat areas.
“Open Landscape” program organizers will provide the following to such partnerships: – Available sets of high resolution satellite images for the areas of interest for free, under standard license term;
- A user-friendly software for reception, archiving, pre-processing and in-depth thematic analysis of satellite images;
- Training programs on the basics of data processing, analysis and interpretation of satellite images, as well as on crowd-mapping techniques.
During the first phase of the Open Landscape Platform (end of 2013 – August 2014) crow-mapping technology will be tested using the example of monitoring the status of various territories and protected natural areas based on satellite data provided to ScanEx RDC.
In the first phase ScanEx Research & Development will provide a “grant” in the form of satellite images acquired from WorldView- 2 satellite, covering an area of 2.25 million square kilometers. Space data will be provided under a license for non-commercial environmental applications. In accordance with the agreement between the DigitalGlobe and ScanEx RDC companies, experts of the Non-Profit Partnership “Transparent World” have already started working as per Open Landscape program and supporting the thematic geoportal of www.openlandscape.info.
At the first phase of the Open Landscape Platform its users will get free and password-protected web access to the available WorldView- 2 satellite imagery of the area of interest, online mapping tools and a dedicated space on the server. Participants will be able to use these tools to develop and keep up their own landscapes and “hot spots” crow-mapping projects. However, they must be prepared to carry out the work under the terms of reporting and provision of web maps based on their projects’ results to the project library. Further on these projects will be available to the public through an online forum for familiarization, analysis and discussion.
In April-June 2014 it is planned to organize an international tender of the projects submitted. It goal is to demonstrate and promote the most effective and potentially applicable solutions based on crow-mapping technology.
Organizers and ideologists of the Open Landscape Platform are: ScanEx Research and Development Center and NGO “Transparent World” in cooperation with the World Bank, the World Resources Institute and other members of the Global Forest Watch 2.0 and the Global Tiger Initiative. The platform is supported by DigitalGlobe, NASA and other satellite imagery providers.