Decision Support Model and Visualization for Assessing Environmental Phenomena, Ecosystem Services, Policy Consequences, and Satellite Design Using Earth Observation Data

<p>Global biodiversity and ecosystem services are under high pressure of human impact. Although avoiding, reducing and reversing the impacts of human activities on ecosystems should be an urgent priority, the loss of biodiversity continues. One of the main drivers of biodiversity loss is land use change and land degradation. In South Africa land degradation has a long history and is of great concern. The SPACES II project SALDi (South African Land Degradation Monitor) aims for developing new, adaptive and sustainable tools for assessing land degradation by addressing the dynamics and functioning of multi-use landscapes with respect to land use change and ecosystem services. SPACES II is a German-South African &#8220;Science Partnerships for the Adaptation to Complex Earth System Processes&#8221;. Within SALDi ready-to-use earth observation (EO) data cubes are developed. EO data cubes are useful and effective tools using earth observations to deliver decision-ready products. By accessing, storing and processing of remote sensing products and time-series in data cubes, the efficient monitoring of land degradation can therefore be enabled. The SALDi data cubes from optical and radar satellite data include all necessary pre-processing steps and are generated to monitor vegetation dynamics of five years for six focus areas. Intra- and interannual variability in both, a high spatial and temporal resolution will be accounted to monitor land degradation. Therefore, spatial high resolution earth observation data from 2016 to 2021 from Sentinel-1 (C-Band radar) and Sentinel-2 (multispectral) will be integrated in the SALDi data cube for six research areas of 100 x 100 km. Additionally, a number of vegetation indices will be implemented to account for explicit land degradation and vegetation monitoring. Spatially explicit query tools will enable users of the system to focus on specific areas, like hydrological catchments or blocks of fields.</p>

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Our goal is to establish the earth observation data in the business world Unser Ziel ist es, die Erdbeobachtungsdaten in der Geschäftswelt zu etablieren

GIS Business ◽

10.26643/gis.v12i3.5187 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 12-14

Author(s):

Eicher, A

Keyword(s):

Earth Observation ◽

Observation Data ◽

Business World ◽

The Earth ◽

Earth Observation Data

Our goal is to establish the earth observation data in the business world Unser Ziel ist es, die Erdbeobachtungsdaten in der Geschäftswelt zu etablieren

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Mapping slums and model population density using earth observation data and open source solutions

2019 Joint Urban Remote Sensing Event (JURSE) ◽

10.1109/jurse.2019.8808934 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Tais Grippa ◽

Stefanos Georganos ◽

Sabine Vanhuysse ◽

Moritz Lennert ◽

Nicholus Mboga ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Population Density ◽

Open Source ◽

Earth Observation ◽

Observation Data ◽

Model Population ◽

Earth Observation Data

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A decision support model based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process for the Make or Buy decision in manufacturing

Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management ◽

10.1016/j.pursup.2007.01.003 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 12 (5) ◽

pp. 258-271 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Henny van de Water ◽

Heleen P. van Peet

Keyword(s):

Decision Support ◽

Analytic Hierarchy Process ◽

Decision Support Model ◽

Analytic Hierarchy ◽

Model Based ◽

The Analytic Hierarchy Process ◽

Hierarchy Process ◽

Support Model

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Examining the Economic and Environmental Impacts of COVID-19 Using Earth Observation Data

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13010005 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 5

Author(s):

William Straka ◽

Shobha Kondragunta ◽

Zigang Wei ◽

Hai Zhang ◽

Steven D. Miller ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Los Angeles ◽

Environmental Impacts ◽

Demographic Data ◽

The United States ◽

Earth Observation ◽

Observation Data ◽

Washington Dc ◽

Mobility Data ◽

Earth Observation Data

The COVID-19 pandemic has infected almost 73 million people and is responsible for over 1.63 million fatalities worldwide since early December 2019, when it was first reported in Wuhan, China. In the early stages of the pandemic, social distancing measures, such as lockdown restrictions, were applied in a non-uniform way across the world to reduce the spread of the virus. While such restrictions contributed to flattening the curve in places like Italy, Germany, and South Korea, it plunged the economy in the United States to a level of recession not seen since WWII, while also improving air quality due to the reduced mobility. Using daily Earth observation data (Day/Night Band (DNB) from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Suomi-NPP and NO2 measurements from the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument TROPOMI) along with monthly averaged cell phone derived mobility data, we examined the economic and environmental impacts of lockdowns in Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; Washington DC from February to April 2020—encompassing the most profound shutdown measures taken in the U.S. The preliminary analysis revealed that the reduction in mobility involved two major observable impacts: (i) improved air quality (a reduction in NO2 and PM2.5 concentration), but (ii) reduced economic activity (a decrease in energy consumption as measured by the radiance from the DNB data) that impacted on gross domestic product, poverty levels, and the unemployment rate. With the continuing rise of COVID-19 cases and declining economic conditions, such knowledge can be combined with unemployment and demographic data to develop policies and strategies for the safe reopening of the economy while preserving our environment and protecting vulnerable populations susceptible to COVID-19 infection.

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2nd Edition of Instrumenting Smart City Applications with Big Sensing and Earth Observatory Data: Tools, Methods and Techniques

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13071310 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (7) ◽

pp. 1310

Author(s):

Gabriele Bitelli ◽

Emanuele Mandanici

Keyword(s):

High Resolution ◽

Exponential Growth ◽

Smart City ◽

Earth Observation ◽

Urban Environments ◽

Observation Data ◽

High Resolution Imagery ◽

Observatory Data ◽

Methods And Techniques ◽

Earth Observation Data

The exponential growth in the volume of Earth observation data and the increasing quality and availability of high-resolution imagery are increasingly making more applications possible in urban environments [...]

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Quantifying Tree Cover Loss in Urban Forests within Nairobi City Metropolitan Area from Earth Observation Data

Environmental Sciences Proceedings ◽

10.3390/iecf2020-07952 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 78

Author(s):

Francis Oloo ◽

Godwin Murithi ◽

Charlynne Jepkosgei

Keyword(s):

Land Cover ◽

Metropolitan Area ◽

Land Surface ◽

Urban Forest ◽

Urban Forests ◽

Earth Observation ◽

Tree Cover ◽

Observation Data ◽

Vegetation Health ◽

Earth Observation Data

Urban forests contribute significantly to the ecological integrity of urban areas and the quality of life of urban dwellers through air quality control, energy conservation, improving urban hydrology, and regulation of land surface temperatures (LST). However, urban forests are under threat due to human activities, natural calamities, and bioinvasion continually decimating forest cover. Few studies have used fine-scaled Earth observation data to understand the dynamics of tree cover loss in urban forests and the sustainability of such forests in the face of increasing urban population. The aim of this work was to quantify the spatial and temporal changes in urban forest characteristics and to assess the potential drivers of such changes. We used data on tree cover, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and land cover change to quantify tree cover loss and changes in vegetation health in urban forests within the Nairobi metropolitan area in Kenya. We also used land cover data to visualize the potential link between tree cover loss and changes in land use characteristics. From approximately 6600 hectares (ha) of forest land, 720 ha have been lost between 2000 and 2019, representing about 11% loss in 20 years. In six of the urban forests, the trend of loss was positive, indicating a continuing disturbance of urban forests around Nairobi. Conversely, there was a negative trend in the annual mean NDVI values for each of the forests, indicating a potential deterioration of the vegetation health in the forests. A preliminary, visual inspection of high-resolution imagery in sample areas of tree cover loss showed that the main drivers of loss are the conversion of forest lands to residential areas and farmlands, implementation of big infrastructure projects that pass through the forests, and extraction of timber and other resources to support urban developments. The outcome of this study reveals the value of Earth observation data in monitoring urban forest resources.

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