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TESEO Project at ESA Uses SARscape for Investigations on Desertification
Being a continuous process, desertification can not be mapped and monitored by occasional inspections. Spaceborne Earth Observation (EO) is the only reliable system to collect systematic qualitative and quantitative information at frequent rates on the variations of geo- and biophysical parameters over large areas. Therefore, it can be considered as a tool to observe the spatial and temporal aspects of desertification related processes. Although an analysis of current and forthcoming operational sensors pointed out that there is a wide range of information which can be derived from spaceborne high-resolution multi-spectral and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, it remains a fact that the use of EO is today still limited within this domain. The main issues hindering the utilization of this technology are related to the wrong and wide spread opinion that EO is a high-tech tool restricted to specialists only, and it is a high-cost technology. One of the outcome of the TESEO project is that desertification/land degradation processes can be well monitored and understood only if specific earth observation products are combined with socio-economic data. One example as been shown in Mongolia (Khaliun soum of Gobi-Altai aimag) where land degradation effects are primarily due to inappropriate livestock management. Concerning the EO part, ERS time-series have been used in order to monitor land seasonal changes between April 1997 (when the bare soil extension is prevalent) and September 1997 (when the pasture has its maximum extent). All data processing, from RAW product ingestion to land cover maps, has been carried out by means of SARscape. The Mongolian case and related activity have been developed in close collaboration with ECO-Asia that, during the project duration, sent a technical expert for a two-months period training at sarmap premises in Switzerland. |
