Remote Sensing For A Changing Europe

Includes proceedings that cover 84 papers, presented at the 'Remote Sensing for a Changing Europe' symposium held in Istanbul, Turkey (2-5 June 2008).

These proceedings cover 84 papers, presented earlier at the ‘Remote Sensing for a Changing Europe’ symposium held in Istanbul, Turkey (2-7 June 2008). Technical presentations were on all fields of geoinformation and remote sensing, but especially on the following topics: geoinformation and remote sensing, new sensors and instruments, image processing techniques, time series analysis, data fusion, imaging spectroscopy, urban remote sensing, land use and land cover, radar remote sensing, LIDAR, land degradation and desertification, hydrology, land ice & snow, coastal zone, forestry, agriculture, 3D spatial analysis and world heritage.

Collects papers presented at the 29th symposium of the European Association of Remote Sensing Laboratories (EARSeL). This book covers such subjects as: earth observation, earthquake monitoring, new trends in GIS and remote sensing software packages, coasts and climate conflicts, forestry, thermal remote sensing and urban remote sensing.

David Stevens Space-based information, which includes earth observation data, is increasingly becoming an integral part of our lives. We have been relying for decades on data obtained from meteorological satellites for updates on the weather and to monitor weather-related natural disasters such as hurricanes. We now count on our personal satellite-based navigation systems to guide us to the nearest Starbucks Coffee and use web-based applications such as Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth to study the area of places we will or would like to visit. At the same time, satellite-based technologies have experienced impressive growth in recent years with an increase in the number of available sensors, an increase in spatial, temporal and spectral resolutions, an increase in the availability of radar satellites such as Terrasar-X and ALOS, and the launching of specific constellations such as the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC), COSMO- SkyMed (COnstellation of small Satellites for the Mediterranean basin Observation) and RapidEye. Even more recent are the initiatives being set-up to ensure that space-based information is being accessed and used by decision makers, such as Sentinel Asia for the Asia and Pacific region and SERVIR for the Latin America and Caribbean region.

Land use and land cover (LULC) as well as its changes (LUCC) are an interplay between bio-geophysical characteristics of the landscape and climate as well as the complex human interaction including its different patterns of utilization superimposed on the natural vegetation. LULC is a core information layer for a variety of scientific and administrative tasks(e.g. hydrological modelling, climate models, land use planning).In particular in the context of climate change with its impacts on socio-economic, socio-ecologic systems as well as ecosystem services precise information on LULC and LUCC are mandatory baseline datasets required over large areas. Remote sensing can provide such information on different levels of detail and in a homogeneous and reliable way. Hence, LULC mapping can be regarded as a prototype for integrated approaches based on spaceborne and airborne remote sensing techniques combined with field observations. The book provides for the first time a comprehensive view of various LULC activities focusing on European initiatives, such as the LUCAS surveys, the CORINE land covers, the ESA/EU GMES program and its resulting Fast-Track- and Downstream Services, the EU JRC Global Land Cover, the ESA GlobCover project as well as the ESA initiative on Essential Climate Variables. All have and are producing highly appreciated land cover products. The book will cover the operational approaches, but also review current state-of-the-art scientific methodologies and recommendations for this field. It opens the view with best-practice examples that lead to a view that exceeds pure mapping, but to investigate into drivers and causes as well as future projections.

An exploration of systems providing hyperdimensional data with accuracy and fine resolution. The volume reflects the research results of the network of the EARSeL member laboratories. Topics include: data mining; agriculture and forestry; techniques and methods; hyperdimensional data; and more.

Presents the Proceedings of the 12th EARSel Symposium, held in Eger, Hungary, 8-11 September 1992. The text includes studies of environmental problems in Central and Eastern Europe, urban studies, water management and the use of fractals in geophysical fields. Earth observation from aircraft and satellites, has a key role to play in helping scientists to understand processes on a regional and global scale in all areas of the natural environment. Visible and infrared imaging systems and now, with data flowing from ERS-1, microwave, both passive and active, are of particular importance for the study of land surface processes. Environment; Forestry and agriculture; Methodology; Cartography.

This book presents cutting-edge remote sensing research, outlining the advanced use of European Space Agency (ESA) satellite data in the context of climate change. The ESA, through its Support to Science Element (STSE) Programme, funds a network of young post-doc scientists pursuing 2-year cutting-edge research projects in the field of remote sensing. This “Changing Earth Science Network” focuses on the exploitation of Earth Observation (EO) data to address major issues concerning the broader context of climate change in five scientific research domains: the oceans, atmosphere, cryosphere, land and solid earth.

To better understand the various processes and interactions that govern the Earth system and to determine whether recent human-induced changes could ultimately de-stabilise its dynamics, both natural system variability and the consequences of human activities have to be observed and quantified. In this context, the European Space Agency (ESA) published in 2006 the document “The Changing Earth: New Scientific Challenges for ESA's Living Planet Programme” as the main driver of ESA’s new Earth Observation (EO) science strategy. The document outlines 25 major scientific challenges covering all the different aspects of the Earth system, where EO technology and ESA missions may provide a key contribution. In this framework, and aiming at enhancing the ESA scientific support towards the achievement of “The Challenges”, the Agency has launched in 2008 a new initiative – the Changing Earth Science Network – to support young scientists to undertake leading-edge research activities contributing to achieve the 25 scientific challenges of the LPP by maximising the use of ESA data. The initiative is implemented through a number of research projects proposed and led by early-stage scientists at post-doctoral level for a period of two years which are summarized in this SpringerBrief. These projects undertake innovative research activities furthering into the most pressing issues of the Earth system, while exploiting ESA missions data with special attention to the ESA data archives and the new Earth Explorer missions.