Joachim Hill - Böcker

Land degradation and desertification are amongst the most severe threats to human welfare and the environment, as they affect the livelihoods of some 2 billion people in the world’s drylands, and they are directly connected to pressing global environmental problems, such as the loss of biological diversity or global climate change. Strategies to combat these processes and mitigate their effects at the land-management and policy level require spatially explicit, up-to-date information, which can be provided based on remote sensing data and using geoinformation processing techniques.Recent Advances in Remote Sensing and Geoinformation Processing for Land Degradation Assessment introduces the current state of the art in this field and provides an overview of both conceptual and technological advances of the recent past. With a specific focus on desertification and land degradation, the volume covers the assessment of related biophysical indicators, as well as complementary qualitative information at different spatial and temporal scales. It is shown how remote sensing data may be utilized in the context of assessing and monitoring affected ecosystems and how this information may be assimilated into integrated interpretation and modelling concepts. In addition, different case studies are provided to demonstrate the implementation of these methods in the frame of different local settings.The volume will be of interest to scientists and students working at the interface of ecosystem services, land degradation/desertification, spatial ecology, remote sensing and spatial modelling, as well as to land managers and policy makers.

Land degradation and desertification are amongst the most severe threats to human welfare and the environment, as they affect the livelihoods of some 2 billion people in the world’s drylands, and they are directly connected to pressing global environmental problems, such as the loss of biological diversity or global climate change. Strategies to combat these processes and mitigate their effects at the land-management and policy level require spatially explicit, up-to-date information, which can be provided based on remote sensing data and using geoinformation processing techniques.Recent Advances in Remote Sensing and Geoinformation Processing for Land Degradation Assessment introduces the current state of the art in this field and provides an overview of both conceptual and technological advances of the recent past. With a specific focus on desertification and land degradation, the volume covers the assessment of related biophysical indicators, as well as complementary qualitative information at different spatial and temporal scales. It is shown how remote sensing data may be utilized in the context of assessing and monitoring affected ecosystems and how this information may be assimilated into integrated interpretation and modelling concepts. In addition, different case studies are provided to demonstrate the implementation of these methods in the frame of different local settings.The volume will be of interest to scientists and students working at the interface of ecosystem services, land degradation/desertification, spatial ecology, remote sensing and spatial modelling, as well as to land managers and policy makers.

The technique of imaging spectrometry has now passed its infancy and entered a new phase of application-oriented research. Advanced sensor systems have become available for international research programmes, new imaging spectrometers are under development in several European countries or have already passed their acceptance tests, and first high spectral resolution imaging systems are already being operated by private industry. On a European level, the EARSEC programme of the Joint Research Centre has provided considerable financial investment for the development of an imaging spectrometer which covers the reflective and important parts of the emission spectrum, and the European Space Agency has initiated an airborne remote sensing campaign in which imaging spectrometry will constitute one of the most important components. Progress has also been made in the development of data preprocessing methods, spectral signature modelling and semi-empirical approaches to the retrieval of surface parameters. This volume presents the lectures of the second Eurocourse on imaging spectrometry which was held in November 1992 at the Joint Research Centre.The book provides information on the principles of imaging spectrometry and, at the same time, emphasizes the presentation of further application-oriented case studies. Selected topics include the assessment of terrestrial ecosystems (vegetation, agriculture, soil erosion and inland water quality). The contributions have been written by invited experts from universities and research institutes in Europe and the United States.