Earth Observation (EO) and Remote Sensing

Earth Observation and Remote Sensing technologies usually refers to satellite, airborne and drone-based sensing of visible-light, infrared, ultra-violet images of the Earth's surface. Active technologies such as LiDAR and RADAR are included too.

Earth Observation provides an exciting opportunity for monitoring & assessment.

EO and other remote-sensing techniques can support ‘on the ground’ condition assessments to help understand the current state of natural resources, as well as identifying changes and trends when compared to past data. 

There are many potential uses of EO and remote-sensing. Using these technologies can cut down on the number of field visits necessary; it makes it easier to gain information about remote areas, and regular repeat visits by satellites mean that we can make consistent observations of the same features to monitor environmental changes. 

Being able to combine the benefits of EO and remote-sensing with a robust ground-truthing programme (as ERAMMP does through the National Field Survey) means that we can be confident of the results we get, from broad scale views of the overall condition of an area right down to assessment of individual features in the landscape.

Within ERAMMP, EO is primarily being used to detect and assess the severity of areas of soil erosion and damage, and to identify linear landscape features such as hedges.

Find out more in the links below. 

Report-14: Development of Reduced Habitat Mapping Methods ERAMMP Rpt-14 Habitat mapping

Report-18: Technologies to Capture Evidence of Soil Erosion ERAMMP Rpt-18 Soil Erosion

Report-45: Soil Degradation: Erosion & Compaction Phase-1 ERAMMP Rpt-45 Soil Degradation

Report-56: Suitability of Satellite Data and LiDAR for Mapping Hedges  ERAMMP Rpt-56 Mapping Hedges

Report-57: Image Resolution Testing for Soil Erosion and Damage Features ERAMMP Report-57 EO Resolution Erosion and Damage