A Radar Satellite Early-Warning System for Tropical Deforestation
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leicester
Department Name: Geography
Abstract
The market assessment research will review potential users of information services on deforestation, patterns of activity, the ways in which they buy and the motivations for purchase of forest monitoring data and analysis. It will provide an overall picture of demand whilst highlighting markets to prioritise and target (based on size, accessibility, demand). In addition, competitors and substitute products will be analysed. The information will be synthesised to create a picture of markets to target and required features of the product and service.
The work will inform our understanding of which segments of the market to target (countries, NGOs) it will also inform on the basics details of product & service design and delivery. This will be of vital importance as we decide of the nature of the service, the extent to which the product needs to be refined and developed. At present it is envisaged that a stand-alone commercial entity will be created providing both data and consultancy services to global users of the data. The follow on funding will support the planning for the organisational model and structure for delivery, through the development of a hard evidence base to support decisions on investment and resources allocation. It will subsequently guide the development of a marketing plan.
The work will inform our understanding of which segments of the market to target (countries, NGOs) it will also inform on the basics details of product & service design and delivery. This will be of vital importance as we decide of the nature of the service, the extent to which the product needs to be refined and developed. At present it is envisaged that a stand-alone commercial entity will be created providing both data and consultancy services to global users of the data. The follow on funding will support the planning for the organisational model and structure for delivery, through the development of a hard evidence base to support decisions on investment and resources allocation. It will subsequently guide the development of a marketing plan.
Publications
Louis V
(2024)
Tiger Habitat Quality Modelling in Malaysia with Sentinel-2 and InVEST
in Remote Sensing
Roberts J
(2022)
Pyeo: A Python package for near-real-time forest cover change detection from Earth observation using machine learning
in Computers & Geosciences
| Description | A comprehensive market assessment was undertaken and options for an operational deforestation monitoring service were devised. |
| Exploitation Route | NERC follow-on fund grant |
| Sectors | Environment |
| Description | Deforestation is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. The equivalent of a football pitch is deforested in the world every six seconds. To combat deforestation, near-real-time information on forest loss events is needed by forest rangers in the field, who often patrol vast forest areas. The Forest Alerts system developed at Leicester provides an innovative solution to this problem: The system automatically searches for deforestation events every 5 days with newly acquired satellite imagery at 10 metre resolution from the European Space Agency's Sentinel-2 satellites. The images can even detect the felling of individual large trees. Users receive near-real-time deforestation alerts by email or a mobile app. The software is written in Python and is available freely on Github. All Forest Alerts can be logged in a dashboard or a GIS. This enables effective protection of forests from illegal logging and monitoring forest degradation, as required by the COP26 Glasgow Commitment to end global deforestation by 2030. Forest Alerts are being used by the Kenya Forest Service in eight Counties now. The first two Counties were Kwale since 2019 and Kilifi since 2021. A specialist sifts through new alerts and assigns those for investigation in the field to a forest ranger via WhatsApp. Rangers use the Maps.Me app to navigate to a Forest Alert and take action if they discover illegal activity in the protected forest. They report back to Nairobi on the incident with photos and actions taken. The Forest Alerts system was supported by NERC, NCEO, UK Space Agency, European Space Agency and BEIS and has been co-designed with the REDD+ Round Table in the Ministry of Environment in Kenya, which brings together NGOs, the National Alliance of Community Forest Associations (NACOFA), the Kenya Forest Service, and universities in Nairobi. The specific benefits provides by Forest Alerts according to the Kenya Forest Service is that they have made forest rangers more accountable, help to deploy rangers more effectively, and reduce deforestation through rapid intervention. Forest Alerts have been piloted in Kwale County for since 2019 and Kilifi County since 2021 where, in the words of Kenya Forest Service staff, "the results have been very impressive with over 10 reports being received on a daily basis. With the feedback received from Kwale County and the input from the ENCOM section, a deliberate effort has been made to improve and enhance the tool further for an improved forest surveillance, comprehensive reporting and trend analysis in forest incidences and monitoring. The result has been an improved tool (survey123) that captures and digitizes the manual tool that is currently in use by ENCOM." [Note: ENCOM is the Enforcement and Compliance branch of the Kenya Forest Service] Forest rangers from Kwale and Kilifi say that the system makes their work more effective through situational awareness. 253 Forest Alerts have been detected in Kwale County to date, including 143 cases of illegal logging, 47 cases of charcoal production, 32 cases of damage to trees by wildlife, 25 wind falls, one case of human trafficking by an armed gang of people-smugglers, and 5 forest fires. There were 297 Forest Alerts detected in Kilifi so far, including 239 cases of illegal logging, 17 cases of charcoal production and 41 cases of damage by wildlife or wind. Supported by voluntary Community Scouts, ENCOM staff have successfully intervened in many cases and arrested poachers, human traffickers and illegal loggers in the protected forest areas. Because of the success of the system, the Kenya Forest Service now generates Forest Alerts for additional areas in eight further Counties: Uasin Gishu, Elgeyo Marakwet, Kericho, Baringo, Bungoma, Kakamega, Nandi and Transzoia. The GIS database of detected events allows the collection of statistics on the causes of deforestation. This information helps forest rangers and community scouts to engage with local communities to reduce the causes of deforestation, for example by planting trees for legal charcoal production. The next step for the development of the Forest Alerts is to scale up the use of the system to national coverage in Kenya, which is work in progress. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2019 |
| Sector | Environment |
| Impact Types | Societal Economic Policy & public services |
| Description | Contributed to POST Note "Environmental Earth Observation" |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| URL | https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/POST-PN-0566 |
| Description | Advancing Earth Observation Applications in Forests. International Partnership Space Programme |
| Amount | £139,300 (GBP) |
| Organisation | UK Space Agency |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2015 |
| End | 03/2016 |
| Description | Earth Observation Data Integration Pilot, Research Project 9 - Innovative application of remote sensing to Forestry management and monitoring |
| Amount | £15,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (DEFRA) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2016 |
| End | 08/2016 |
| Description | Follow-on Fund: REDD+ Monitoring Services with Satellite Earth Observation - Community Forest Monitoring Pilot |
| Amount | £94,438 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | NE/N017021/1 |
| Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2016 |
| End | 03/2017 |
| Description | Forest Mind |
| Amount | € 2,172,000 (EUR) |
| Organisation | European Space Agency |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | France |
| Start | 06/2020 |
| End | 07/2022 |
| Description | Identification and monitoring of deforestation in the pluvial Pacific Coast of Colombia. NEWTON Researcher Links Programme, Dr. Jesus Anaya Acevedo, Universidad de Medellin, Colombia |
| Amount | £8,254 (GBP) |
| Organisation | British Council |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2017 |
| End | 06/2017 |
| Description | Space Enabled Monitoring of Illegal Gold Mining in Colombia |
| Amount | £3,300,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | UK Space Agency |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2018 |
| End | 04/2019 |
| Description | Strengthening Food Security through Integrated Earth Observations & Ecological Assessments of Ecosystem Services in Kenya |
| Amount | £41,800 (GBP) |
| Organisation | British Council |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 05/2017 |
| End | 03/2018 |
| Title | Near-real-time Sentinel-2 deforestation monitoring service using mobile app technology |
| Description | Python software code to process Sentinel-2 data automatically and disseminate information products in near-real-time to mobile app users managed by a central dashboard. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The system will be demonstrated to users in due course. |
| Title | Sentinel-2 processing software in Python |
| Description | The open-source software PYEO enables users to process large amounts of Sentinel-2 images either on a local computer or on a High-Performance Computing Facility. It includes automatic search, filter and download functionality, atmospheric correction with Sen2Cor from L1C to L2A product level and merging and mosaicking tools. A mapping function will be available soon. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | Supported by UKSA Forests 2020, the software has been demonstrated to users in the forestry sector in several tropical countries, including Ghana, Kenya, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil and Colombia. The software will enable users there to upgrade their own satellite data processing systems from Landsat to Sentinel-2, this improving the spatial resolution of forest monitoring from 30 m to 10 m, or a 9-fold improvement. |
| URL | https://github.com/clcr/pyeo |
| Description | Collaboration with Government of Kenya |
| Organisation | Kenya Forest Service |
| Country | Kenya |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Agreement with Cabinet Secretary for Environment to work together in October 2015. Presentation of research plans and ideas at a national REDD+ stakeholder meeting in April 2016. Training workshop on radar remote sensing held in Nairobi in 2016. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provision of advice on forest monitoring in Kenya and the development of the national REDD+ strategy. Technical advice on monitoring development. |
| Impact | Development of a prototype forest cover change monitoring service in near-real-time from Sentinel-2 at 10 m resolution, with reports being disseminated to mobile app users and a dashboard. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Kenya Forest Service |
| Organisation | Kenya Forest Service |
| Country | Kenya |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Held workshops at the Kenya Forest Service with the National REDD+ stakeholder group and discussed how Earth Observation can be better used for forest monitoring in Kenya. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Hosted the meeting and provided technical contributions and advice. |
| Impact | Collaboration and further meetings. |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Title | Python software for near-real-time automated Sentinel 2 satellite data processing and information dissemination |
| Description | The software automatically checks for new satellite data acquisitions on the European Space Agency server. It then downloads the image and automatically checks it for any forest cover losses. Areas that have been deforested are flagged up in a report and immediately disseminated to the users via a mobile app, and reports include geographic coordinates, a map quicklook and the area of the deforestation. Users can report back to the dashboard using text, voice or photo messages. The dashboard uses big data analytics to keep an overview of all reports that have been received. Available from https://github.com/clcr/pyeo |
| Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Open Source License? | Yes |
| Impact | No impacts as yet, but the software enables user organisations such as forestry commissions to monitor their national forest land in near-real-time and detect any illegal logging and other disturbances early enough to allow intervention. |
| URL | https://github.com/clcr/pyeo |
| Description | University of Leicester scientists to promote food security in Kenya |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Announcement of British Council funded workshop to be held in Kenya. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www2.le.ac.uk.ezproxy4.lib.le.ac.uk/departments/geography/newsevents/food-security-workshop |
| Description | Visit by the new Director of the Kenya Forest Service to NCEO at Leicester |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | We discussed our continued collaboration in the ODA programme with the Kenya Forest Service, refreshed our understanding of the stakeholder needs and pathways to development impact and agreed to seek to formalise a memorandum of understanding between University of Leicester and Kenya Forest Service. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Visit to Kenyan Ministry for Environment |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Around 15-20 people from the Kenya Forest Service, DFID, UKTI and other organisations attended a formal meeting with the Minister of Environment of Kenya, Prof. Wakhungu, in October 2015. Its purpose was to gauge user interest in the concept developed in the Pathfinder project and to inform the development of the Follow-on Fund application. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.environment.go.ke/?p=1454 |