NCEO NC ODA Full
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leicester
Department Name: National Centre for Earth Observation
Abstract
The NCEO NC-ODA programme is focussed on a series of generic science issues that are particularly relevant to development challenges: characterisation and forecasting of land surface state including vegetation change and soil moisture; the evolution of forest carbon and characterisation of carbon fluxes arising from deforestation and degradation; the dynamic nature of fires, their emissions into the atmosphere and the development of large-scale air pollution; the development of a cadre of researchers and applications specialists trained in state-of-the-art Earth Observation (EO).
We will address specific problems faced by DAC countries: the vulnerability of crop yields in semi-arid regions in Africa to drought, the challenge of protecting and enhancing Kenya's forest resources to mitigate climate change, the forecast skill necessary to capture hazardous air quality in South-East Asia stemming from open biomass burning, and the current lack of capacity of many African nations to make effective use of satellite EO data.
The programme is structured into four WPs. Relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals are: 2 (Zero hunger), 3 (Good health and well-being), 13 (Climate action), 15 (Life on Land), and 17 (Partnership for the goals).
WP 1 will improve crop yield modelling in Ghana and potentially Ethiopia through data assimilation of multiple EO data streams, for example effective leaf area index and soil moisture. The research will yield new knowledge on the value of accurate EO data parameters in a data-model system, to better characterise crop change and increase predictive skill, to examine upscaling from landscape to country scale, and improve soil moisture forecast skill [SGDs 2, 15].
WP 2 will establish a baseline of carbon emissions from deforestation in Kenya, identify different types of deforestation and degradation from synthetic aperture radar, optical and laser ranging (LiDAR) data, and establish areas that are suitable for afforestation to support the Vision 2030 of the Kenyan Government that aims to increase forest cover from 6 to 10 per cent by 2030. The work will establish forest reference emission levels and above-ground carbon stocks. This research is key to understanding carbon cycling estimates in a REDD+ policy context. [SGDs 13, 15].
WP 3 will develop and demonstrate new data sources that can improve forecast accuracy for large-scale air pollution during fire events. Currently, forecast models use estimates of fires that fail to capture the magnitude and variability of dynamic large forest and peatland fires and fires due to agricultural residue burning. The research will improve pollutant emissions estimates from fires, EO-based retrievals of smoke plume aerosols and auto-identification of biomass-burning plumes. We will work with stakeholders in the ASEAN countries to co-develop and demonstrate new systems, characterise improvements and train staff in the interpretation of complex EO data [SDGs 3, 13].
WP 4 will build capacity through international EO-related initiatives, including the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) AfriGEOSS initiative and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) Working Group on Capacity Building & Data Democracy, to improve access to and use of contemporary EO datasets in African nations and other DAC nations. Work will include scoping of UK-related EO projects and experts related to AfriGEOSS identified needs, extension of the training of WP1-3 to wider DAC countries and to strategic capacity building, co-ordinated work with the relevant GEO initiatives of GFOI and GEOGLAM, and support of access to EO data for DAC countries. These actions will also benefit UK national priorities such as the monitoring of projects supported by the GNU partnership (Germany, Norway and UK), which is making US$5 billion available between 2015 and 2020 for REDD+ early movers, and the Biocarbon Fund's Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (ISFL) [SDG 17].
We will address specific problems faced by DAC countries: the vulnerability of crop yields in semi-arid regions in Africa to drought, the challenge of protecting and enhancing Kenya's forest resources to mitigate climate change, the forecast skill necessary to capture hazardous air quality in South-East Asia stemming from open biomass burning, and the current lack of capacity of many African nations to make effective use of satellite EO data.
The programme is structured into four WPs. Relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals are: 2 (Zero hunger), 3 (Good health and well-being), 13 (Climate action), 15 (Life on Land), and 17 (Partnership for the goals).
WP 1 will improve crop yield modelling in Ghana and potentially Ethiopia through data assimilation of multiple EO data streams, for example effective leaf area index and soil moisture. The research will yield new knowledge on the value of accurate EO data parameters in a data-model system, to better characterise crop change and increase predictive skill, to examine upscaling from landscape to country scale, and improve soil moisture forecast skill [SGDs 2, 15].
WP 2 will establish a baseline of carbon emissions from deforestation in Kenya, identify different types of deforestation and degradation from synthetic aperture radar, optical and laser ranging (LiDAR) data, and establish areas that are suitable for afforestation to support the Vision 2030 of the Kenyan Government that aims to increase forest cover from 6 to 10 per cent by 2030. The work will establish forest reference emission levels and above-ground carbon stocks. This research is key to understanding carbon cycling estimates in a REDD+ policy context. [SGDs 13, 15].
WP 3 will develop and demonstrate new data sources that can improve forecast accuracy for large-scale air pollution during fire events. Currently, forecast models use estimates of fires that fail to capture the magnitude and variability of dynamic large forest and peatland fires and fires due to agricultural residue burning. The research will improve pollutant emissions estimates from fires, EO-based retrievals of smoke plume aerosols and auto-identification of biomass-burning plumes. We will work with stakeholders in the ASEAN countries to co-develop and demonstrate new systems, characterise improvements and train staff in the interpretation of complex EO data [SDGs 3, 13].
WP 4 will build capacity through international EO-related initiatives, including the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) AfriGEOSS initiative and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) Working Group on Capacity Building & Data Democracy, to improve access to and use of contemporary EO datasets in African nations and other DAC nations. Work will include scoping of UK-related EO projects and experts related to AfriGEOSS identified needs, extension of the training of WP1-3 to wider DAC countries and to strategic capacity building, co-ordinated work with the relevant GEO initiatives of GFOI and GEOGLAM, and support of access to EO data for DAC countries. These actions will also benefit UK national priorities such as the monitoring of projects supported by the GNU partnership (Germany, Norway and UK), which is making US$5 billion available between 2015 and 2020 for REDD+ early movers, and the Biocarbon Fund's Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (ISFL) [SDG 17].
Planned Impact
This programme directly and primarily benefits stakeholder organisation and partners in DAC countries. Immediate benefits will be achievable for our stakeholders in Ghana, Kenya and Indonesia, also the wider international community participating in AfriGEOSS, WGCapD, GFOI, GEOGLAM and AfriGAM.
There are three main groups of beneficiaries:
1. Public agencies, national and regional governments
2. Non-governmental organisations, international aid organisations, the UN community and its programmes
3. The general public, local communities in Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya and South-East Asia
These groups will benefit from making progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2 (Zero hunger), 3 (Good health and well-being), 13 (Climate action), 15 (Life on Land), and 17 (Partnership for the goals), all of which are directly addressed by this programme.
More accurate crop yield models using EO data assimilation will provide better information to stakeholders in semi-arid Africa and other DAC countries (WP1). This is expected to lead to positive development impact by reducing hunger because of crop failure during drought. Government agencies and aid organisations will be able to respond more effectively, based on more accurate crop yield forecasts. The dryland savannah zone of the Northern region of Ghana occupies 40 per cent of the country and farming there is under pressure from rapid population growth and vulnerable to rainfall fluctuations. In Ethiopia the agricultural sector is a cornerstone of the economy, employs 80-85 per cent of people and contributes about 40 per cent of total GDP. During the drought in 2016, 18 million people there depended on food aid. Even a small reduction in the uncertainty in crop yield predictions could have a substantial impact.
The research on deforestation and afforestation potential in Kenya will directly benefit the Kenya Forest Service, Forestry Society of Kenya and the stakeholders in the national REDD+ forum by providing baseline deforestation rates, aboveground biomass data that can be used to estimate greenhouse gas emissions and their reduction under forest protection policies, as well as identifying areas with potential for afforestation based on model simulations. The research will support Kenya's afforestation target written into its constitutional 'Vision 2030', and its goal to achieve REDD+ Readiness. Once this is achieved, Kenya is set to benefit from financial incentives under REDD+, such as from the UK's £5.8 billion International Climate Fund. Establishing Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) capacity in Kenya will enable the country to monitor its forest resources effectively.
More accurate information on fire activity and the related atmospheric pollutants in South-East Asia will potentially benefit the 620 million people living in the region's DAC-List countries, through support to national monitoring efforts and to policies such as the Transboundary Agreement on Haze Pollution that aims to limit burning and its atmospheric and human health impacts, particularly in drought years with catastrophic fire outbreaks. Better understanding of the air pollution impacts of fires for policy makers, in potentially near-real time and possibly to the public, will lead to improved efforts to reduce fires and lower public exposure to air pollution, thus lowering morbidity and mortality rates from respiratory and coronary diseases.
The support for AfriGEOSS will benefit the participating African nations and international organisations to access contemporary EO datasets more effectively. The UK GEO/CEOS office will also benefit the UK by making EO capability more visible on the international stage and promoting EO know-how and funded programmes to the international community. WP4 will enable many African nations to access EO data from satellites more effectively, bringing associated health and commercial benefits.
There are three main groups of beneficiaries:
1. Public agencies, national and regional governments
2. Non-governmental organisations, international aid organisations, the UN community and its programmes
3. The general public, local communities in Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya and South-East Asia
These groups will benefit from making progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2 (Zero hunger), 3 (Good health and well-being), 13 (Climate action), 15 (Life on Land), and 17 (Partnership for the goals), all of which are directly addressed by this programme.
More accurate crop yield models using EO data assimilation will provide better information to stakeholders in semi-arid Africa and other DAC countries (WP1). This is expected to lead to positive development impact by reducing hunger because of crop failure during drought. Government agencies and aid organisations will be able to respond more effectively, based on more accurate crop yield forecasts. The dryland savannah zone of the Northern region of Ghana occupies 40 per cent of the country and farming there is under pressure from rapid population growth and vulnerable to rainfall fluctuations. In Ethiopia the agricultural sector is a cornerstone of the economy, employs 80-85 per cent of people and contributes about 40 per cent of total GDP. During the drought in 2016, 18 million people there depended on food aid. Even a small reduction in the uncertainty in crop yield predictions could have a substantial impact.
The research on deforestation and afforestation potential in Kenya will directly benefit the Kenya Forest Service, Forestry Society of Kenya and the stakeholders in the national REDD+ forum by providing baseline deforestation rates, aboveground biomass data that can be used to estimate greenhouse gas emissions and their reduction under forest protection policies, as well as identifying areas with potential for afforestation based on model simulations. The research will support Kenya's afforestation target written into its constitutional 'Vision 2030', and its goal to achieve REDD+ Readiness. Once this is achieved, Kenya is set to benefit from financial incentives under REDD+, such as from the UK's £5.8 billion International Climate Fund. Establishing Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) capacity in Kenya will enable the country to monitor its forest resources effectively.
More accurate information on fire activity and the related atmospheric pollutants in South-East Asia will potentially benefit the 620 million people living in the region's DAC-List countries, through support to national monitoring efforts and to policies such as the Transboundary Agreement on Haze Pollution that aims to limit burning and its atmospheric and human health impacts, particularly in drought years with catastrophic fire outbreaks. Better understanding of the air pollution impacts of fires for policy makers, in potentially near-real time and possibly to the public, will lead to improved efforts to reduce fires and lower public exposure to air pollution, thus lowering morbidity and mortality rates from respiratory and coronary diseases.
The support for AfriGEOSS will benefit the participating African nations and international organisations to access contemporary EO datasets more effectively. The UK GEO/CEOS office will also benefit the UK by making EO capability more visible on the international stage and promoting EO know-how and funded programmes to the international community. WP4 will enable many African nations to access EO data from satellites more effectively, bringing associated health and commercial benefits.
Organisations
- University of Leicester (Lead Research Organisation)
- Friedrich Schiller University Jena (FSU) (Collaboration)
- Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (Collaboration)
- ABERYSTWYTH UNIVERSITY (Collaboration)
- National Physical Laboratory (Collaboration)
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (Collaboration)
- ECOMETRICA LTD (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH (Collaboration)
- Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (Collaboration)
- Clark University (Collaboration)
- University of Sheffield (Collaboration)
- Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute (Collaboration)
- UK Space Agency (Collaboration)
- Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS (Collaboration)
- Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (Collaboration)
- Wageningen University & Research (Collaboration)
- Kenya Forest Service (Collaboration)
- Gamma Remote Sensing (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER (Collaboration)
- Space Studies Centre of the Biosphere (CESBIO) (Collaboration)
- Government of Colombia (Collaboration)
- Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (Collaboration)
- University of Toulouse (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF GHANA (Collaboration)
- Maasai Mara University (Collaboration)
- Columbia University (Project Partner)
- Ghana Space Science and Technology Inst (Project Partner)
- Bahir Dar University (Project Partner)
- Forestry Society of Kenya (Project Partner)
- Indonesian National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (Project Partner)
- South African Nat Space Agency (SANSA) (Project Partner)
- Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Project Partner)
- University of Nairobi (Project Partner)
- Group on Earth Observations (Project Partner)
- Vietnam Environmental Agency (Project Partner)
- Mekelle University (Project Partner)
- Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Project Partner)
- United Kingdom Space Agency (Project Partner)
Publications
Ameen B
(2018)
Validation of Hourly Global Horizontal Irradiance for Two Satellite-Derived Datasets in Northeast Iraq
in Remote Sensing
Anaya J
(2020)
Drivers of Forest Loss in a Megadiverse Hotspot on the Pacific Coast of Colombia
in Remote Sensing
Asfaw D
(2018)
TAMSAT-ALERT v1: a new framework for agricultural decision support
in Geoscientific Model Development
Barrett K
(2020)
Postfire recruitment failure in Scots pine forests of southern Siberia
in Remote Sensing of Environment
Bispo P
(2020)
Woody Aboveground Biomass Mapping of the Brazilian Savanna with a Multi-Sensor and Machine Learning Approach
in Remote Sensing
Bispo P
(2019)
Mapping forest successional stages in the Brazilian Amazon using forest heights derived from TanDEM-X SAR interferometry
in Remote Sensing of Environment
Bloom A
(2020)
Lagged effects regulate the inter-annual variability of the tropical carbon balance
in Biogeosciences
Bruno AG
(2022)
Satellite observations and modelling of hydrogen cyanide in the Earth's atmosphere
in IL NUOVO CIMENTO
Caen A
(2021)
Evaluating two land surface models for Brazil using a full carbon cycle benchmark with uncertainties
in Climate Resilience and Sustainability
Cole B
(2018)
Acceleration and fragmentation of CORINE land cover changes in the United Kingdom from 2006-2012 detected by Copernicus IMAGE2012 satellite data
in International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation
Dokoohaki H
(2022)
Linking Remote Sensing with APSIM through Emulation and Bayesian Optimization to Improve Yield Prediction
in Remote Sensing
Duncanson L
(2019)
The Importance of Consistent Global Forest Aboveground Biomass Product Validation.
in Surveys in geophysics
Fisher D
(2020)
Top-Down Estimation of Particulate Matter Emissions from Extreme Tropical Peatland Fires Using Geostationary Satellite Fire Radiative Power Observations.
in Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
Flack-Prain S
(2019)
The importance of physiological, structural and trait responses to drought stress in driving spatial and temporal variation in GPP across Amazon forests
in Biogeosciences
Flack-Prain S
(2021)
The impact of climate change and climate extremes on sugarcane production
in GCB Bioenergy
Flack-Prain S
(2021)
Does economic optimisation explain LAI and leaf trait distributions across an Amazon soil moisture gradient?
in Global change biology
García M
(2018)
Modelling forest canopy height by integrating airborne LiDAR samples with satellite Radar and multispectral imagery
in International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation
George-Chacón S
(2021)
Using satellite estimates of aboveground biomass to assess carbon stocks in a mixed-management, semi-deciduous tropical forest in the Yucatan Peninsula
in Geocarto International
Title | Art Meets Radar |
Description | Artistic image submitted for the University of Leicester Images of Research Exhibition. The brief of the exhibition is communicate your research in a single image. Entries can take on different forms - it could be a traditional photo showcasing a research process, a digital photo of data, or a piece of artwork. Pedro's image was also awarded the Judges' Prize Runners-up |
Type Of Art | Artwork |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Impact | The finalist images are displayed in an exhibition (this year virtual) which is open to the public |
URL | https://le.ac.uk/research/images-of-research/pedro-rodriguez-veiga |
Description | A model(TAMSAT-ALERT) has been implemented in collaboration with NCAS and the University of Reading which includes land surface and precipitation data alongside a model for annual crops. Based on the assessment for the period 2002-2011, we show that TAMSAT-ALERT can estimate the meteorological risk on maize yield 6 to 8 weeks in advance of harvest. We have also developed a comprehensive natural forest carbon analysis for Kenya. We have developed better methods for characterising fire emissions in South East Asia. |
Exploitation Route | Early warning of weather-related hazards enables farmers, policy makers and aid agencies to mitigate their exposure to risk. We present a new operational framework, Tropical Applications of Meteorology using SATellite data and ground based measurements-AgricuLtural EaRly warning sysTem (TAMSAT-ALERT), which aims to provide early warning for meteorological risk to agriculture. TAMSAT-ALERT combines information on land-surface properties, seasonal forecasts and historical weather to quantitatively assess the likelihood of adverse weather-related outcomes, such as low yield. The carbon analysis for Kenya is being extended across Africa so that estimates of carbon emissions and their change can be used across Africa. The emissions from fires will be used to study atmospheric pollution consequences of large-scale peat fires. |
Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Environment |
Description | Work on forest observations from space are used by the Kenyan Forestry Service. The work in Ghana has contributed to improvements in the TAMSAT system which is supporting thousands of farmers in Africa and to Kenya Drought monitoring. The work in S.E. Asia on wildfire and pollution is used by Indonesian early warning systems for fire and by ASEAN meteorological centre forecasts for pollution across all of SE Asia. Innovative soil moisture information for Africa: A particular success in the NCEO work was the development and demonstration of a daily Africa-wide soil moisture dataset enabled by mathematically integrating NASA Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) data into model analyses from the UK land model, JULES. Working through the NCAS ODA team, this product was brought into and forms the basis of a climatological forecasting technique which is currently being used by the Kenyan National Drought Management Authority in production of early warning bulletins. Strengthening forest alerts in Kenya: Building on previous UK-funding, the programme supported operations of the satellite-based forest alert system developed by NCEO (Pyeo Python library), winning a Copernicus Masters Award for Sustainable Living in 2017 and an ESRI user conference award in 2021. It provided training to Kenyan Forestry Service staff, increasing knowledge of forest carbon change. The system is now used operationally in two counties with the scale-up to all Kenyan forest land by summer 2023, supported by the UK-PACT funded IMPRESS project. The alerts have strengthened forest governance and reduced illegal felling of trees in protected forest areas. Building fire-based information systems in SE Asia: Our NCEO expertise is in quantitative, physical measures of fire intensity, known as fire radiative power (FRP). We have supported regional and national agencies to build fire measures into early warning systems both of fires themselves and of pollution from fires. LAPAN - the Indonesian space agency - continue to use our Himawari FRP data in their fire early-warning system whose information is passed to Dept of Forestry and the local fire response teams they manage. Similarly, the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre is using the Copernicus global fire assimilation system FRP data that we helped develop as their smoke emissions input, and are currently working to expand this with use of our Himawari FRP data which is far more timely. The information they produce use used to forecast periods of poor air quality for all ASEAN nations and results in health impact mitigation measures such as school closures and cancellation of sporting events during periods of forecast extreme air pollution. |
First Year Of Impact | 2019 |
Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Environment |
Impact Types | Societal |
Description | Implementation in the Kenya Forest Service |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Impact | The Kenya Forest Service now has the ability to detect forest cover loss every 5 days at 10 m spatial resolution from satellite data, which is a big improvement on the previous practice of using 30 m resolution data (which do not detect selective logging) every 16 days (causing problems with cloud cover). Benefits include much more timely delivery of deforestation alerts to foresters in the field and local community forestry associations. This enables more rapid intervention and better forest governance. |
URL | https://github.com/clcr/pyeo |
Description | Copernicus Land Cover Supporting Activities 2020-2021 |
Amount | € 136,611 (EUR) |
Organisation | European Environment Agency |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | Denmark |
Start | 08/2020 |
End | 12/2021 |
Description | Copernicus Land Monitoring Service UK, Phase 2 |
Amount | € 19,400 (EUR) |
Organisation | European Environment Agency |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | Denmark |
Start | 05/2019 |
End | 11/2019 |
Description | ESA Biomass CCI |
Amount | € 1,500,000 (EUR) |
Organisation | European Space Agency |
Sector | Public |
Country | France |
Start | 03/2018 |
End | 03/2020 |
Description | Forest Mind |
Amount | € 2,172,000 (EUR) |
Organisation | European Space Agency |
Sector | Public |
Country | France |
Start | 06/2020 |
End | 07/2022 |
Description | Forests 2020 |
Amount | £14,213,343 (GBP) |
Organisation | UK Space Agency |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 12/2016 |
End | 03/2020 |
Description | Machine learning applications in remote sensing |
Amount | £25,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | European Commission |
Sector | Public |
Country | European Union (EU) |
Start | 05/2019 |
End | 11/2019 |
Description | New satellite observations to improve monitoring and forecasting of severe smoke pollution over SE Asia caused by Indonesian landscape burning |
Amount | £125,708 (GBP) |
Funding ID | ST/S003029/1 |
Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2019 |
End | 03/2021 |
Description | Regional crop monitoring and assessment with quantitative remote sensing and data assimilation |
Amount | £500,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Newton Fund |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 04/2020 |
End | 05/2021 |
Description | Short-term postdoctoral fellowships for Research in Japan |
Amount | ¥3,000,000 (JPY) |
Funding ID | PE18044 |
Organisation | Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) |
Sector | Public |
Country | Japan |
Start | 02/2019 |
End | 07/2019 |
Description | Space Enabled Monitoring of Illegal Gold Mining |
Amount | £3,300,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | UK Space Agency |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 02/2018 |
End | 03/2020 |
Description | Standardising Earth Observation approaches to Forest Carbon Stock assessment for Carbon Offset audit and verification |
Amount | £80,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | SPRINT |
Organisation | United Kingdom Research and Innovation |
Department | Research England |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2020 |
End | 03/2021 |
Title | Biomass mapping machine learning algorithm implementation in IDEAM Colombia's datacube |
Description | A machine learning routine implementation to map biomass nationally (Colombia) using forest inventory data, SAR and optical imagery available at IDEAM's datacube |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2020 |
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 Kenya, Brazil and Colombia. The software has been implemented in the Colombia's datacube to make use of IDEAM's Analysis Ready Data infrastructure |
URL | https://github.com/OpenDatacubeIDEAM/cdcol/blob/master/algorithms/Biomasa/Biomass_map.py |
Title | Forest biomass mapping algorithm implemented as an iPython Jupyter Notebook |
Description | A random forest (machine learning) algorithm for remote sensing images was implemented in Python in order to automate the production of forest biomass maps from space data. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | It was used at a CEOS training event by STFC I think. |
Title | Aboveground Biomass Map Colombia |
Description | Above-ground biomass map for Colombia at 30m spatial resolution for the year 2015-2016 using a combination of SAR and optical imagery. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | The biomass map was developed in collaboration with IDEAM Colombia and will be the official map for the country. It is being used used for reporting purposes with the government of Norway, and for restoration opportunity mapping |
Title | Aboveground Biomass map of Cerrado vegetation in Rio Vermelho, Brazil |
Description | Aboveground Biomass map of Cerrado vegetation in Rio Vermelho, Brazil. Output of the Forests 2020 project. The data input consisted of in-situ plots, LiDAR airborne data, optical and SAR dataset. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | We partnered with IPAM and several other Brazilian organisations to develop the methods to map cerrado biomass and its associated uncertainty using remote sensing data. The methods are also being used to map the whole cerrado biome in Brazil. |
Title | Aboveground Biomass map of the Cerrado Biome in Brazil |
Description | Aboveground Biomass map of the Cerrado Biome in Brazil. The data input consisted of in-situ plots, optical and SAR datasets. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | We partnered with IPAM and several other Brazilian organisations to develop the methods to map cerrado biomass and its associated uncertainty using remote sensing data in a Rio Vermelho. The methods from that experience were used here to map the whole Cerrado Biome in Brazil. This is the first time the Cerrado vegetation has been mapped with such accuracy and spatial resolution. |
Title | Aboveground Forest Biomass map of Kenya 2015 |
Description | Above-ground biomass map for Kenya at 30m spatial resolution for the year 2015. Output from the NCEO ODA foundation Award |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2017 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Expected Outcome, Impacts and Benefits for Users: SCIENCE: i) modelling of disturbances with higher accuracies, ii) improved evaluation of spatial heterogeneity of light and water competition in structurally complex forests and along bioclimatic gradients, iii) observation of bush encroachment, iv) investigation of degradation as a process for modelling implementation, v) more detailed information about forest dynamics in terms of ecological evolution and biodiversity and its variation related to climate change, vi) carbon emission change estimates, vii) reduction of uncertainties. POLICY: i) improved national carbon accounting and emission reporting to UNFCCC, ii) better land management for sustainable forest use, iii) capacity building for non-Annex I countries in the REDD+ process, iv) improved management tools for protected and high conservation value forests, v) improved transparency for cross-agency validation, vi) development of an integrated global forest inventory INDUSTRY: i) improved forest planning with respect to harvesting methods and intensity of silviculture, ii) monitoring by FSC-certified companies and supporting FSC-stakeholders in negotiations, iii) analysis of management techniques and harvest models, iv) forest resource planning for bioenergy, v) auditing of remote areas with lower costs and higher reliability, vi) bush encroachment monitoring, vii) remapping of stand and stocking assessments and impacts of pest/diseases, landscape-level monitoring |
Title | Agrometeorological dashboard for Ghana |
Description | A capability for doing simple analysis using EO, meteorological and data resulting from data assimilation was set up on the JASMIN infrastructure. The data is stored in JASMIN and can be easily accessed by anyone either via a web browser or locally if s/he needs to do more complex analyses than the ones currently implemented. |
Type Of Material | Data handling & control |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The setup will allow colleagues in Ghana to do produce reports on agrometeorological conditions that will be disseminated to stakeholders in the Ministry for Food and Agriculture, as well as extension workers on the ground. Other Ghana-based researchers have been using this facility to obtain quickly obtain data for their own research. |
URL | https://github.com/NCEO-ODA/ghana_data |
Title | CARDAMOM Brazil C-cycle analysis (1x1 degree; monthly; 2001-2017) |
Description | This dataset contains a netCDF file reporting terrestrial C-cycle analysis of Brazil at 1 x 1 degree spatial and monthly temporal resolutions for 2001 to 2017. The analysis uses the CARDAMOM model-data fusion framework to retrieve information on Brazil's terrestrial C-cycle uncertainty uniquely for each location based on location and time specific observations and their uncertainties. The files contains pixel-level estimates of C storage (plant tissues and dead organic matter), C fluxes (photosynthesis, respiration, fire emissions), allocation of C to plant tissues and their residence times. All variables include uncertainty information reporting the 2.5 %, 25 %, 50 %, 75 % and 97.5% quantiles. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | This dataset supports uncertainty bounded benchmarking of JULES and INLAND land surface models C-cycle processes. The benchmarking allows identification of model-observation mismatch and targeting of the underlying process responsible for the error. |
URL | https://datashare.ed.ac.uk/handle/10283/3841 |
Title | CARDAMOM Kenyan C-cycle analysis (0.25 degree, monthly, 2014-2017): Forest and savannah specific |
Description | This dataset contains two netCDF file reporting terrestrial C-cycle analysis of Kenya at 0.25 x 0.25 degree spatial and monthly temporal resolutions for 2014 to 2017. One analysis specifically focused on forested land of Kenya, the other analysis focused on savannah land. The analysis uses the CARDAMOM model-data fusion framework to retrieve information on Kenya's terrestrial C-cycle uncertainty uniquely for each location based on location and time specific observations and their uncertainties. The files contains pixel-level estimates of C storage (plant tissues and dead organic matter), C fluxes (photosynthesis, respiration, fire emissions), allocation of C to plant tissues and their residence times. All variables include uncertainty information reporting the 2.5 %, 25 %, 50 %, 75 % and 97.5% quantiles. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Provides a first demonstration of a model-data fusion analysis where the observational constraints are derived from aggregating fine spatial scale information about specific ecosystems (i.e. forest or savanna) to a coarse resolution analysis allowing for the inclusion of ecosystem specific analysis achieved in a computationally efficient way. This analysis underpins future continental scale analyses. |
URL | https://datashare.ed.ac.uk/handle/10283/3848 |
Title | Forest and land cover change maps/alerts for window areas in Colombia, Mexico, Kenya, and Indonesia |
Description | Forest and land cover change maps, as well as deforestation alerts for window areas in Colombia, Mexico, Kenya, and Indonesia. Outputs Forests 2020 project |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Forest and land cover change maps, as well as deforestation alerts are used by the partner organisations for reporting issues and early warning |
Title | Location, biophysical and agronomic parameters for croplands in Northern Ghana |
Description | We present a dataset describing (i) crop locations, (ii) biophysical parameters and (iii) crop yield and biomass was collected in 2020 and 2021 in Ghana, mostly focusing on maize in northern Ghana. The dataset contains repeated multiple measurements of leaf area index (LAI), leaf chlorophyll concentration over a large number of maize fields, as well as associated grain yield, biomass and polygons that delineate the fields. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2022 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
URL | https://zenodo.org/record/6632082 |
Title | Particulate matter estimation from overlapping smoke plumes |
Description | To estimate particulate matter for smoke plumes across the SE Asian regions during extreme peat fire episodes a new algorithm was developed that can effectively attribute "in-plume" particulate matter to its producing fire radiative power. Based on a spatial subsetting approach, an optical flow algorithm is used to estimate the total time required to produce a given subset from series of geostationary imager observations. The total time for the plume subset is used to integrate geostationary derived fire radiative power values to produce the total radiant energy associated with the plume subset. This is related to the total particulate matter in the plume subset derived from aerosol optical depth observations obtained from polar-orbiting imagers. The resulting collocation are then used to produce a linear model capable of estimating particulate matter emissions directly from observations of fire radiative energy. |
Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | This algorithm has allowed the analysis of fire emissions from fires on peatlands across the SE Asian region. The significant outcome being that it has shown that current assumptions about fire type on peatlands may well be incorrect, and that the application of emission factors in these regions may currently be inappropriate. |
Title | Python for Earth Observation (PYEO) library |
Description | Python for Earth Observation processing chain This is designed to provide a set of portable, extensible and modular Python scripts for earth observation and machine learning, including downloading, preprocessing, creation of base layers and classification. |
Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The open source library is used by our partners in the Forests 2020 project (they have received specific capacity development in this area) for processing Sentinel 2 imagery and produce forest/land cover change maps. It is also used by our students and research community in general. |
URL | https://github.com/clcr/pyeo |
Title | Soil Moisture data for Africa using Data Assimilation |
Description | These data are produced by integrating NASA SMAP data with the JULES land surface model to provide optimal estimates of soil moisture. The JULES model is also forced using TAMSAT rainfall estimates, so the soil moisture data is consistent with those data (in a mass balance sense). Currently we are providing 0.25 degree data on a daily basis, updated every 5-6 days, back to 1999. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | None so far, but we expect that to develop in the next year or two. |
URL | http://gws-access.jasmin.ac.uk/public/odanceo/soil_moisture/ |
Description | ALOS L-band SAR data to improve country-level carbon reporting in the forest sector |
Organisation | Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency |
Country | Japan |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Developing countries would benefit greatly from having robust, spatially explicit estimates of forest above-ground biomass (AGB) to help them in reporting changes in their carbon stocks. This project seeks to develop and test methods to estimate stocks and changes in AGB using ALOS-1, ALOS-2 and ALOS-4 observations in Mozambique (Southern Africa). Currently, L-band SAR satellite observations are the most sensitive to forest structural properties. JAXA ALOS-1 and ALOS-2 global observations now cover a period of ~15 years (ALOS-1: 2006-2011, ALOS-2: 2014-present) and ALOS-4 will further extend this critical archive. Therefore, a systematic assessment of forest AGB stocks and changes now becomes possible, paving the way for the P-band SAR data from the ESA BIOMASS mission, which launches in 2023. This project builds upon previous research studies led by the University of Sheffield undertaken in the framework of the Kyoto and Carbon Initiative in phases 1, 2, 3 and 4. |
Collaborator Contribution | NA |
Impact | This project will develop and test methods at selected sites in Mozambique where reference observations are available and apply them to the full extent of the ALOS-1, ALOS-2 and potentially ALOS-4 imagery covering Mozambique to generate maps of forest AGB change. Particularly valuable would be the provision of time series of ALOS-4 fully-polarimetric acquisitions in interferometric mode, since such data will be routinely produced by the ESA BIOMASS mission (Quegan et al. 2019) and should allow development of a whole new range of methods to retrieve AGB and AGB change. We expect these methods to provide improved estimates of forest AGB and change in tropical dry forests, where AGB density is usually lower than the saturation value of L-band SAR observations. These activities must be considered in a broader perspective where L-band data are one of multiple Earth Observation streams that can be exploited to measure forest AGB and change. The results will also inform the acquisition strategy of future SAR missions, which, unlike past and current missions, have an explicit target of mapping and monitoring forest AGB (NISAR, TanDEM-L, BIOMASS). |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | ALOS L-band SAR data to improve country-level carbon reporting in the forest sector |
Organisation | University of Sheffield |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Developing countries would benefit greatly from having robust, spatially explicit estimates of forest above-ground biomass (AGB) to help them in reporting changes in their carbon stocks. This project seeks to develop and test methods to estimate stocks and changes in AGB using ALOS-1, ALOS-2 and ALOS-4 observations in Mozambique (Southern Africa). Currently, L-band SAR satellite observations are the most sensitive to forest structural properties. JAXA ALOS-1 and ALOS-2 global observations now cover a period of ~15 years (ALOS-1: 2006-2011, ALOS-2: 2014-present) and ALOS-4 will further extend this critical archive. Therefore, a systematic assessment of forest AGB stocks and changes now becomes possible, paving the way for the P-band SAR data from the ESA BIOMASS mission, which launches in 2023. This project builds upon previous research studies led by the University of Sheffield undertaken in the framework of the Kyoto and Carbon Initiative in phases 1, 2, 3 and 4. |
Collaborator Contribution | NA |
Impact | This project will develop and test methods at selected sites in Mozambique where reference observations are available and apply them to the full extent of the ALOS-1, ALOS-2 and potentially ALOS-4 imagery covering Mozambique to generate maps of forest AGB change. Particularly valuable would be the provision of time series of ALOS-4 fully-polarimetric acquisitions in interferometric mode, since such data will be routinely produced by the ESA BIOMASS mission (Quegan et al. 2019) and should allow development of a whole new range of methods to retrieve AGB and AGB change. We expect these methods to provide improved estimates of forest AGB and change in tropical dry forests, where AGB density is usually lower than the saturation value of L-band SAR observations. These activities must be considered in a broader perspective where L-band data are one of multiple Earth Observation streams that can be exploited to measure forest AGB and change. The results will also inform the acquisition strategy of future SAR missions, which, unlike past and current missions, have an explicit target of mapping and monitoring forest AGB (NISAR, TanDEM-L, BIOMASS). |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Collaboration with IDEAM (Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies, Gov. of Colombia) |
Organisation | Government of Colombia |
Country | Colombia |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Development of algorithms for wide area (national level) biomass mapping in Colombia, support in the development of plot level allometries to estimate biomass, and capacity building of IDEAM staff. |
Collaborator Contribution | Sharing of forest inventory data to carry out the activities, development of plot level allometric models, and support capacity building activities. |
Impact | We have developed a machine learning routine to map biomass nationally using forest inventory data, SAR and optical imagery. The algorithm has been implemented in Colombia's data cube. We are also drafting a MoU to continue our collaboration in the future |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Crop model calibration partnership with University of Ghana |
Organisation | University of Ghana |
Country | Ghana |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We are collaborating with researchers at the University of Ghana to develop techniques to provide probabilistic calibration of crop growth models. In essence, this allows researchers to attach a realistic uncertainty estimate to any predictions from crop growth models. Methods are crop growth model agnostic, and we'll strive to support the models used by colleagues at the University of Ghana. |
Collaborator Contribution | Dr MacCarthy at the University of Ghana shared datasets she has been collecting that will allow us to do a probabilistic calibration of crop models adapted to the varieties and management practices of maize in Ghana. This includes the sharing of data, but also insights on agronomic practices that are common in Ghana. |
Impact | None yet. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Crop modelling and vegetation monitoring with Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences |
Organisation | Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences |
Country | China |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | UCL advised on the data assimilation techniques for regional-scale crop monitoring with remote sensing to CAAS |
Collaborator Contribution | CAAS has provided their insights on crop monitoring in North China Plain, their data assimilation strategy for national crop monitoring and organized multiple field campaigns for collecting calibration data for our joint modeling work. |
Impact | Huang J, Gómez-Dans JL, Huang H, Ma H, Wu Q, Lewis PE, Liang S, Chen Z, et al. (2019). Assimilation of remote sensing into crop growth models: Current status and perspectives. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 276-277: 107609-107609. |
Start Year | 2015 |
Description | Crop monitoring training to GSSTI |
Organisation | Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute |
Country | Ghana |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | We have been providing field survey training and advice on crop monitoring technologies to Ghanaian partners, to help them conduct ground-based survey of crop variables. |
Collaborator Contribution | GSSTI is working on a series of monthly field surveys to collect ground-based crop measurement data |
Impact | Delayed dut to COVID |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Crop type mapping effort in Ghana |
Organisation | Clark University |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We will consider the cropland dataset provided by Clark University researchers in our crop classification activities, in order to assess its quality. |
Collaborator Contribution | Researchers at Clark University made available to us a cropland mask for Ghana. This has been useful to plan an in situ crop type survey in Ghana, and we are considering ways to further use the data to produce crop type maps for Ghana. |
Impact | None yet |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | ESA Biomass CCI+ |
Organisation | Aberystwyth University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Collaborating in the development of global and regional algorithms for aboveground biomass retrieval |
Collaborator Contribution | Aberystwyth University leads the partnership. Other partners contribute in algorithm development or data inputs at global and regional sites. |
Impact | Global biomass dataset requirements from climate and carbon modeling, ecology, geography, resource assessment, climate policy and other user families. Global Aboveground Biomass map at 100 m spatial resolution |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | ESA Biomass CCI+ |
Organisation | Friedrich Schiller University Jena (FSU) |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Collaborating in the development of global and regional algorithms for aboveground biomass retrieval |
Collaborator Contribution | Aberystwyth University leads the partnership. Other partners contribute in algorithm development or data inputs at global and regional sites. |
Impact | Global biomass dataset requirements from climate and carbon modeling, ecology, geography, resource assessment, climate policy and other user families. Global Aboveground Biomass map at 100 m spatial resolution |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | ESA Biomass CCI+ |
Organisation | Gamma Remote Sensing |
Country | Switzerland |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Collaborating in the development of global and regional algorithms for aboveground biomass retrieval |
Collaborator Contribution | Aberystwyth University leads the partnership. Other partners contribute in algorithm development or data inputs at global and regional sites. |
Impact | Global biomass dataset requirements from climate and carbon modeling, ecology, geography, resource assessment, climate policy and other user families. Global Aboveground Biomass map at 100 m spatial resolution |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | ESA Biomass CCI+ |
Organisation | International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis |
Country | Austria |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Collaborating in the development of global and regional algorithms for aboveground biomass retrieval |
Collaborator Contribution | Aberystwyth University leads the partnership. Other partners contribute in algorithm development or data inputs at global and regional sites. |
Impact | Global biomass dataset requirements from climate and carbon modeling, ecology, geography, resource assessment, climate policy and other user families. Global Aboveground Biomass map at 100 m spatial resolution |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | ESA Biomass CCI+ |
Organisation | Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement |
Country | France |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Collaborating in the development of global and regional algorithms for aboveground biomass retrieval |
Collaborator Contribution | Aberystwyth University leads the partnership. Other partners contribute in algorithm development or data inputs at global and regional sites. |
Impact | Global biomass dataset requirements from climate and carbon modeling, ecology, geography, resource assessment, climate policy and other user families. Global Aboveground Biomass map at 100 m spatial resolution |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | ESA Biomass CCI+ |
Organisation | Space Studies Centre of the Biosphere (CESBIO) |
Country | France |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Collaborating in the development of global and regional algorithms for aboveground biomass retrieval |
Collaborator Contribution | Aberystwyth University leads the partnership. Other partners contribute in algorithm development or data inputs at global and regional sites. |
Impact | Global biomass dataset requirements from climate and carbon modeling, ecology, geography, resource assessment, climate policy and other user families. Global Aboveground Biomass map at 100 m spatial resolution |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | ESA Biomass CCI+ |
Organisation | University of Edinburgh |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Collaborating in the development of global and regional algorithms for aboveground biomass retrieval |
Collaborator Contribution | Aberystwyth University leads the partnership. Other partners contribute in algorithm development or data inputs at global and regional sites. |
Impact | Global biomass dataset requirements from climate and carbon modeling, ecology, geography, resource assessment, climate policy and other user families. Global Aboveground Biomass map at 100 m spatial resolution |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | ESA Biomass CCI+ |
Organisation | University of Leeds |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Collaborating in the development of global and regional algorithms for aboveground biomass retrieval |
Collaborator Contribution | Aberystwyth University leads the partnership. Other partners contribute in algorithm development or data inputs at global and regional sites. |
Impact | Global biomass dataset requirements from climate and carbon modeling, ecology, geography, resource assessment, climate policy and other user families. Global Aboveground Biomass map at 100 m spatial resolution |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | ESA Biomass CCI+ |
Organisation | University of Sheffield |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Collaborating in the development of global and regional algorithms for aboveground biomass retrieval |
Collaborator Contribution | Aberystwyth University leads the partnership. Other partners contribute in algorithm development or data inputs at global and regional sites. |
Impact | Global biomass dataset requirements from climate and carbon modeling, ecology, geography, resource assessment, climate policy and other user families. Global Aboveground Biomass map at 100 m spatial resolution |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | ESA Biomass CCI+ |
Organisation | University of Toulouse |
Department | Laboratory Evolution and Biological Diversity |
Country | France |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Collaborating in the development of global and regional algorithms for aboveground biomass retrieval |
Collaborator Contribution | Aberystwyth University leads the partnership. Other partners contribute in algorithm development or data inputs at global and regional sites. |
Impact | Global biomass dataset requirements from climate and carbon modeling, ecology, geography, resource assessment, climate policy and other user families. Global Aboveground Biomass map at 100 m spatial resolution |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | ESA Biomass CCI+ |
Organisation | Wageningen University & Research |
Country | Netherlands |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Collaborating in the development of global and regional algorithms for aboveground biomass retrieval |
Collaborator Contribution | Aberystwyth University leads the partnership. Other partners contribute in algorithm development or data inputs at global and regional sites. |
Impact | Global biomass dataset requirements from climate and carbon modeling, ecology, geography, resource assessment, climate policy and other user families. Global Aboveground Biomass map at 100 m spatial resolution |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Estimating forest above-ground biomass change in East Africa from L-band SAR data |
Organisation | Gamma Remote Sensing |
Country | Switzerland |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | To develop and test methods to estimate changes in forest above-ground biomass (AGB) using ALOS-1 and ALOS-2 observations across the dry tropical forests of East Africa. Currently, spaceborne L-band SAR observations are the most sensitive to forest structural properties. JAXA ALOS-1 and ALOS-2 global observations now cover a period of ~10 years (ALOS-1: 2006-2011, ALOS-2: 2014-present) and, therefore, an assessment of forest AGB change at a decadal level now becomes possible. |
Collaborator Contribution | To develop and test methods to estimate changes in forest above-ground biomass (AGB) using ALOS-1 and ALOS-2 observations across the dry tropical forests of East Africa. Currently, spaceborne L-band SAR observations are the most sensitive to forest structural properties. JAXA ALOS-1 and ALOS-2 global observations now cover a period of ~10 years (ALOS-1: 2006-2011, ALOS-2: 2014-present) and, therefore, an assessment of forest AGB change at a decadal level now becomes possible. |
Impact | NA |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Estimating forest above-ground biomass change in East Africa from L-band SAR data |
Organisation | Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency |
Country | Japan |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | To develop and test methods to estimate changes in forest above-ground biomass (AGB) using ALOS-1 and ALOS-2 observations across the dry tropical forests of East Africa. Currently, spaceborne L-band SAR observations are the most sensitive to forest structural properties. JAXA ALOS-1 and ALOS-2 global observations now cover a period of ~10 years (ALOS-1: 2006-2011, ALOS-2: 2014-present) and, therefore, an assessment of forest AGB change at a decadal level now becomes possible. |
Collaborator Contribution | To develop and test methods to estimate changes in forest above-ground biomass (AGB) using ALOS-1 and ALOS-2 observations across the dry tropical forests of East Africa. Currently, spaceborne L-band SAR observations are the most sensitive to forest structural properties. JAXA ALOS-1 and ALOS-2 global observations now cover a period of ~10 years (ALOS-1: 2006-2011, ALOS-2: 2014-present) and, therefore, an assessment of forest AGB change at a decadal level now becomes possible. |
Impact | NA |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Estimating forest above-ground biomass change in East Africa from L-band SAR data |
Organisation | Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research |
Country | Norway |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | To develop and test methods to estimate changes in forest above-ground biomass (AGB) using ALOS-1 and ALOS-2 observations across the dry tropical forests of East Africa. Currently, spaceborne L-band SAR observations are the most sensitive to forest structural properties. JAXA ALOS-1 and ALOS-2 global observations now cover a period of ~10 years (ALOS-1: 2006-2011, ALOS-2: 2014-present) and, therefore, an assessment of forest AGB change at a decadal level now becomes possible. |
Collaborator Contribution | To develop and test methods to estimate changes in forest above-ground biomass (AGB) using ALOS-1 and ALOS-2 observations across the dry tropical forests of East Africa. Currently, spaceborne L-band SAR observations are the most sensitive to forest structural properties. JAXA ALOS-1 and ALOS-2 global observations now cover a period of ~10 years (ALOS-1: 2006-2011, ALOS-2: 2014-present) and, therefore, an assessment of forest AGB change at a decadal level now becomes possible. |
Impact | NA |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Estimating forest above-ground biomass change in East Africa from L-band SAR data |
Organisation | University of Leicester |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | To develop and test methods to estimate changes in forest above-ground biomass (AGB) using ALOS-1 and ALOS-2 observations across the dry tropical forests of East Africa. Currently, spaceborne L-band SAR observations are the most sensitive to forest structural properties. JAXA ALOS-1 and ALOS-2 global observations now cover a period of ~10 years (ALOS-1: 2006-2011, ALOS-2: 2014-present) and, therefore, an assessment of forest AGB change at a decadal level now becomes possible. |
Collaborator Contribution | To develop and test methods to estimate changes in forest above-ground biomass (AGB) using ALOS-1 and ALOS-2 observations across the dry tropical forests of East Africa. Currently, spaceborne L-band SAR observations are the most sensitive to forest structural properties. JAXA ALOS-1 and ALOS-2 global observations now cover a period of ~10 years (ALOS-1: 2006-2011, ALOS-2: 2014-present) and, therefore, an assessment of forest AGB change at a decadal level now becomes possible. |
Impact | NA |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Forests 2020 |
Organisation | Ecometrica Ltd |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Forest cover change monitoring methods using Earth Observation data. Expertise and advice. |
Collaborator Contribution | Provision of EO Labs software license and training. Leading the project team for Forests 2020, funded by UK Space Agency. |
Impact | No outputs yet. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) Leads and Data group |
Organisation | Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | The UK GEO/CEOS Office at NCEO supports join-up on UK inputs and information-sharing relating to GFOI, including workshops and meetings. GFOI aims to coordinate international support for developing countries on forest monitoring and greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting for REDD+ and related activities. NCEO scientists support the research for methods for forest monitoring. |
Collaborator Contribution | In 2018 BEIS joined the GFOI leads group to coordinate understanding and use of methods to demonstrate the carbon impact of its climate investments in developing countries (consistent with REDD+ reporting and verification). Information on GFOI from the BEIS lead is shared with the UK GEO/CEOS Office and beyond to the UK EO community. NPL co-supports the UK vice-chair to the Committee on Earth Observation Space Data Coordination Group for GFOI. |
Impact | The continued agreement to support the UK vice chair to CEOS Space Data Coordination Group for GFOI. |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) Leads and Data group |
Organisation | National Physical Laboratory |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The UK GEO/CEOS Office at NCEO supports join-up on UK inputs and information-sharing relating to GFOI, including workshops and meetings. GFOI aims to coordinate international support for developing countries on forest monitoring and greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting for REDD+ and related activities. NCEO scientists support the research for methods for forest monitoring. |
Collaborator Contribution | In 2018 BEIS joined the GFOI leads group to coordinate understanding and use of methods to demonstrate the carbon impact of its climate investments in developing countries (consistent with REDD+ reporting and verification). Information on GFOI from the BEIS lead is shared with the UK GEO/CEOS Office and beyond to the UK EO community. NPL co-supports the UK vice-chair to the Committee on Earth Observation Space Data Coordination Group for GFOI. |
Impact | The continued agreement to support the UK vice chair to CEOS Space Data Coordination Group for GFOI. |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) Leads and Data group |
Organisation | UK Space Agency |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | The UK GEO/CEOS Office at NCEO supports join-up on UK inputs and information-sharing relating to GFOI, including workshops and meetings. GFOI aims to coordinate international support for developing countries on forest monitoring and greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting for REDD+ and related activities. NCEO scientists support the research for methods for forest monitoring. |
Collaborator Contribution | In 2018 BEIS joined the GFOI leads group to coordinate understanding and use of methods to demonstrate the carbon impact of its climate investments in developing countries (consistent with REDD+ reporting and verification). Information on GFOI from the BEIS lead is shared with the UK GEO/CEOS Office and beyond to the UK EO community. NPL co-supports the UK vice-chair to the Committee on Earth Observation Space Data Coordination Group for GFOI. |
Impact | The continued agreement to support the UK vice chair to CEOS Space Data Coordination Group for GFOI. |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | Informing environmental change for Kenyan county development plans: hot-spot analyses using earth observation and community mapping |
Organisation | Maasai Mara University |
Country | Kenya |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | John Remedios, Luke Smallman and Heiko Balzter visited Maasai Mara University in Kenya in February 2019 and agreed a new collaboration with NCEO. Our contribution will be the provision of Earth Observation datasets that can be useful for county councils in the region. |
Collaborator Contribution | Maasai Mara University contributes the local work with county council administrations and the Kenya Data Cube to facilitate the uptake and impact from the satellite EO data. |
Impact | One in-country visit. Disciplines involved include socio-economic studies and physical sciences. |
Start Year | 2019 |
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 | Forest aboveground biomass mapping tool |
Description | The software is implemented in Google Earth Engine and produces forest aboveground biomass maps from radar and multispectral satellite data at local, regional or continental scale. It also quantifies the uncertainties in the estimates. A Python version has also been written. |
Type Of Technology | Webtool/Application |
Year Produced | 2021 |
Impact | NCEO has produced annual forest biomass maps for the entire African continent for eight years. The maps have contributed to the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow and are being used by the Paris Agreement's Global Stocktake. |
Title | The Lavendar Data Assimilation system |
Description | The Land Variational Ensemble Data Assimilation fRamework (LaVEnDAR) implements the method of Four-Dimensional Ensemble Variational data assimilation for land surface models. It is described in the following publication: https://www.geosci-model-dev.net/13/55/2020/gmd-13-55-2020.html |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Open Source License? | Yes |
Impact | None so far. We are working toward release of an Africa wide data assimilation product which should be released in late 2020. |
URL | https://github.com/pyearthsci/lavendar |
Description | 1st User Workshop of ESA's CCI BIOMASS Project in Paris |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The aim of the 1st CCI Biomass Workshop is to promote knowledge exchange between the project team of CCI Biomass and a large range of users of global biomass datasets, including the climate change community. A major objective is to collect user views and requirements in relation to: Spatial resolution ,Temporal frequency of biomass and biomass change maps (epochs), Accuracy and uncertainty documentation , The types of data exploration tools, and the use of biomass data within the climate change community. The conclusions from the workshop will help to refine the global biomass dataset requirements from climate and carbon modeling, ecology, geography, resource assessment, climate policy and other user families. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | http://cci.esa.int/Biomass-user-workshop-1 |
Description | 21th CEReS Symposium on Environmental Remote Sensing at Chiba University (15 Feb 2019) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presented a poster at the 21th CEReS Symposium on Environmental Remote Sensing at Chiba University (15 Feb 2019) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | http://www.cr.chiba-u.jp/Documents/symposiums/symp2018/RSprogram21-H30.pdf |
Description | ALOS Kyoto & Carbon Initiative 25th Science Team meeting in Tokyo (Japan) on the 5-8 Feb 2019 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The ALOS Kyoto & Carbon Initiative is an international collaborative project led by JAXA Earth Observation Research Center (EORC). Initiated already in 2001, it forms the continuation of JAXA's JERS-1 SAR Global Rain Forest and Global Boreal Forest Mapping project (GRFM/GBFM) into the era of JAXA's Advanced Land Observing Satellites, ALOS (2006-2011) and ALOS-2 (launched May 24, 2014). The ALOS K&C Initiative is set out to support explicit and implicit data and information needs raised by international environmental Conventions, Carbon Cycle Science, Climate Change and Conservation of the environment - referred to as the 4 Cs. Led and coordinated by EORC JAXA, the Initiative is being undertaken by an international Science Team, and focuses primarily on defining and optimizing provision of data products and validated thematic information derived from in-situ and satellite sensor data, in particular L-band radar data from JERS-1 SAR, ALOS PALSAR and ALOS-2 PALSAR-2. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/ALOS/en/top/kyoto_top.htm |
Description | COVID-19 NO2 over SE Asia |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Images of NO2 over Asia which I contributed to the development of were used in a Sky News broadcast |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | ESA Living Planet Symposium, Prague |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Conference Presentation available online (http://livestream.com/ESA/LPS2016/videos/122662167): Rodriguez-Veiga, P., Balzter, H., Tansey, K., Quegan, S., Carreiras, J., Persson, H. J., Fransson, J. E. S., Hoscilo, A., Ziolkowski, D., Dabrowska-Zielinska, K., Sterenczak, K., Englhart, S., Stängel, M., Siegert, F., Avitabile, V., Mermoz, S., Bouvet, A., Le Toan, T., Carvalhais, N., Soja, M., Eriksson, L., Santoro, M., Pathe, C. & Schmullius, C. GLOBBIOMASS Regional Case Studies - Preparing the Ground for Global Forest Biomass Mapping. ESA Living Planet Symposium, 2016 Prague. Conference Presentation: Avitabile, V., Schepaschenko, D., Balzter, H., Carreiras, J., Carvalhais, N., Chave, J., Davies, S. J., Dresel, C., Fritz, S., Perger, C., Herold, M., Lewis, S. L., Phillips, O., Quegan, S., Rodriguez-Veiga, P., Tansey, K., Schmullius, C., Scipal, K. & Seifert, F.-M. Towards a Global In Situ Forest Biomass Database and a Strategy for Validation of Global Biomass Maps. ESA Living Planet Symposium, 2016 Prague. Conference Presentation: Rodriguez-Veiga, P., Balzter, H., Cole, B., Thiel, C. and Schmullius, C., 2015. Mapping CORINE land cover from Sentinel-1A SAR using Random Forests. ESA Living Planet Symposium, 2016 Prague. Conference Poster: Rodriguez-Veiga, P., Tansey, K., Balzter, H. DUE GlobBiomass Regional Mapping: Aboveground Biomass Stocks in Forest of the Yucatan Peninsula. ESA Living Planet Symposium, 2016 Prague. Conference Poster: Poster: Schmullius, C., Thiel, C., Pathe, C., Matejka, E., Quegan, S., Carreiras, J., Wegmuller, U., Santoro, M., Wiesmann, A., Balzter, H., Rodriguez, P., Tansey, K., LeToan, T., Mermoz, S., Bouvet, A., Dabrowska-Zielinska, K., Hoscilo, A., Ziolkowski, D., Siegert, F., Englhart, S., Fransson, J., Persson, H., Herold, M., Avitabile, V., Häme, T., Rauste, Y., Shvidenko, A., Schepaschenko, D., Sterenczak, K., Eriksson, L., Ulander, L., Steffen, F., Reichstein, M., Carvalhais, N., Mathieu, R., Seifert, F.M.,DUE GlobBiomass - Estimates of Biomass on a Global Scale. ESA Living Planet Symposium, 2016 Prague. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | http://livestream.com/ESA/LPS2016/videos/122662167 |
Description | Forests2020-Colombia Biomass mapping stakeholder workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | User workshop held at IDEAM-Colombia in Bogota on the 13-17 August to discuss user requirements for biomass mapping and present initial results |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Forests2020-Colombia stakeholder workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Forests2020 user workshop held at IDEAM-Colombia in Bogota on the 26 Feb to 2 Mar to discuss user requirements and work-plan activities |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | GFOI Data Coordination Component Scoping Meeting |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The UK Joint GEO/CEOS Office supports a UK co-chair to a sub-group of the Global Forest Observation Initiative (GFOI): the Space Data Coordination Group (SDCG). This group was established by CEOS and charged with the purpose of planning and coordinating the acquisition strategies required to support the needs of GFOI and the participating countries, for forest monitoring. This 3-day scoping workshop, held 2-4 July 2018 in Tokyo, Japan, aims to clarify key details of the component's priorities, partners, structure and operational functions; so that a final recommendation can be put to the GFOI Leads Group for endorsement and the work of the component officially commenced in 2018. All documents provided previously on outcomes of this workshop, where UK was asked to be the Data Component lead. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | http://www.fao.org/gfoi/news-events/events/events-detail/en/c/1118199/ |
Description | GlobBiomass User Meeting Helsinki |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The GLOBBIOMASS User Meeting in Helsinki discussed approaches to regional / global forest biomass mapping. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | GlobBiomass User Meeting at FAO headquarters (Rome, Italy) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The GLOBBIOMASS User Meeting at UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) headquarters discussed approaches to regional / global forest biomass mapping. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://www.fao.org/forestry/news/93499/en/ |
Description | Global Forest Initiative (GFOI) Plenary & Space Data Coordination Group (SDCG) meeting (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | The GFOI Space Data Coordination Group (SDCG) was established at the 25th CEOS Plenary (2011) to implement the CEOS Strategy for Space Data Coverage and Continuity in Support of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) and the Forest Carbon Tracking (FCT) Task, which is now fully integrated into GFOI. The Space Data Services Strategy Overview Document provides a brief introduction to the Space Data Services for GFOI and is a good starting point for those that wish to engage the services of the SDCG for GFOI. Meeting objectives: - Review and confirm status of baseline acquisitions strategy. - Review Global Data Flows and follow-up steps. - Exchange of information with the UK community on GFOI and related activities. - Review SDCG support to GFOI R&D and confirm plans for data provision. - Review and discuss the status of the GFOI Space Data Services. - Exchange of information on the Colombia end-to-end country experience within GFOI. - Review discussion and confirm next steps and actions. - Prepare points for CEOS reporting. - Discuss plans for future SDCG meetings. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://www.gfoi.org/gfoi-plenary-2017-presentations/ |
Description | Global Forest Initiative (GFOI) Space Data Coordination Group (SDCG) meeting (Reading, UK) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | The GFOI Space Data Coordination Group (SDCG) was established at the 25th CEOS Plenary (2011) to implement the CEOS Strategy for Space Data Coverage and Continuity in Support of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) and the Forest Carbon Tracking (FCT) Task, which is now fully integrated into GFOI. The Space Data Services Strategy Overview Document provides a brief introduction to the Space Data Services for GFOI and is a good starting point for those that wish to engage the services of the SDCG for GFOI. Meeting objectives: - Review and confirm status of baseline acquisitions strategy. - Review Global Data Flows and follow-up steps. - Exchange of information with the UK community on GFOI and related activities. - Review SDCG support to GFOI R&D and confirm plans for data provision. - Review and discuss the status of the GFOI Space Data Services. - Exchange of information on the Colombia end-to-end country experience within GFOI. - Review discussion and confirm next steps and actions. - Prepare points for CEOS reporting. - Discuss plans for future SDCG meetings. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | http://ceos.org/meetings/sdcg-10/ |
Description | Guest lecture for post graduate course Environmental management seminar A at Kyoto University, 2019 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Guest lecture on EO of Ecosystem Services for post graduate course Environmental management seminar A at the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University (Japan), May 2019 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Hosted expert workshop on forest measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) for REDD+ activities |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The aim of this meeting held at University of Leicester, UK, 23 May 2018, and led by BEIS, was to identify key areas of MRV expertise and capability gaps within the UK; scope objectives of current overseas work and ODA spend; align the Science & Policy interface for best use of UK expertise, and coordination for future funding efforts. The meeting was an important part of BEIS' review for its MRV-related programming and strategy. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://www.nceo.ac.uk/innovation/uk-expertise-international-afolu-mrv-workshop/ |
Description | Imparted radar remote sensing course at Colombia's 3rd Annual National Seminar on Forest Cover Monitoring of Colombia, in Bogota (2018) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Imparted a 1-day training course held at the 3rd Annual National Seminar on Forest Cover Monitoring of Colombia, in Bogota (27-30 November 2018). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | http://www.siac.gov.co/tercer-seminario-forestal |
Description | Imparted training workshop on Biomass mapping and Mangrove change detection using Google Earth Engine in Nairobi (Kenya) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Imparted training workshop on Biomass mapping and Mangrove change detection using Google Earth Engine in Nairobi (Kenya) for Kenyan Forest Service (KFS) officials, and researchers from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), and the Kenya Forest Research Institute (KEFRI) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Imparted training workshop on Synthetic Aperture Radar for Vegetation Studies and Ecosystems Monitoring at the AmeriGEO week 2019 in Lima (Peru) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Imparted 3-day training workshop on Synthetic Aperture Radar for Vegetation Studies and Ecosystems Monitoring at the AmeriGEO week 2019 in Lima (Peru). The trainees were from Perú, Colombia, El Salvador, Chile, Barbados, etc. from government, academia, NGO's and industry sectors |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.amerigeoss.org/amerigeoss-events/amerigeoss-week-2019 |
Description | Invited Seminar at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City 2015 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Invited Seminar at the Institute of Geography of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City 2015 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Invited speaker and panelist at the University of Leicester Doctoral College Event "Advancing in Academia" on 12th Dec 2018 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Invited speaker and panelist at the Doctoral College Event "Advancing in Academia" on 12th Dec, where he presented about his career story, including: how he came to be in the role he is in; how he see the sector evolving; hints and tips for those wanting to progress within the sector; hints and tips for success in selection processes for advancement within the sector |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/red/researcher-development/Doctoral%20College%20Event%20Advancing%20in... |
Description | Live TV Interview on BBC World Service |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Live Radio interview on "Science in Action" on BBC World Service from Indonesia during our training workshop on the forest and peatland fire event which resulted in massive air pollution |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csym28 |
Description | NCEO ODA foundation award stakeholder workshop in Nairobi (Kenya) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | We held a NCEO ODA foundation award stakeholder workshop chaired by Kenya Forestry Service (KFS). The workshop came up with user requirements for Biomass monitoring using Earth Observation data |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | NCEO Urgent response to DFID for Mozambique flood |
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 | We have had an urgent request from DFID to support them on examination of flood areas for Mozambique following the cyclone Idai. We quickly assembled a small group of experts across NCEO to quickly respond to this request. I quickly prepared a code in Google Earth Engine to map flooding areas using Sentinel-1 in the disaster zone. My results were provided to DFID and response teams as UoL/NCEO contribution. The work was made visible via the Disaster Charter website - https://disasterscharter.org/web/guest/home;jsessionid=231B19F78DBFE1E7D99AB0A1D37F899E.jvm1 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://disasterscharter.org/documents/10180/1539407/vap-688-20-quicklook.png/1c1119cc-af80-403e-a73... |
Description | Participant at the Global Forests Observation Initiative (GFOI) Plenary |
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 | The UK GEO/CEOS Office supports the UK co-chair to CEOS Space Data Coordination Group for GFOI. This group is charged with the purpose of planning and coordinating the acquisition strategies required to support the needs of GFOI and the participating countries. Supporting the co-chair ensures UK interests and expertise in forests MRV are supported by coordination of data and with other elements of GFOI. Attendance at GFOI plenary, held 12-16 March 2018 in Colombia, is essential to this work. UK held a workshop for their Business case, updates from GFOI and SDCG meeting. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | http://www.fao.org/gfoi/news-events/events/events-detail/en/c/1044631/ |
Description | Participant in AfriGEOSS Symposium 2018 |
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 | AfriGEOSS is a regional GEO initiative aiming to strengthen the link between the current GEO activities with existing capabilities and initiatives in Africa and to provide the necessary framework for countries and organizations to access and leverage on-going bilateral and multilateral EO-based initiatives across Africa, thereby creating synergies and minimizing duplication for the benefit of the entire continent. NCEO and University of Leicester CLCR attended the AfriGEOSS Symposium 25-29 June 2018 held in Libreville, Gabon, and reported back to the UK GEO and CEOS principals, and UK Space Agency IPP Programme Manager, on key learnings and synergies, with recommendations for future engagement. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | http://www.earthobservations.org/me_201806_afrigeoss.php |
Description | Participant in CEOS WGCapD annual meeting 2018 |
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 | The CEOS Working Group on Capacity Building and Data Democracy (WGCapD) meets annually to coordinate on capacity building activities, avoiding duplication of efforts and pooling resources amongst space agencies. NCEO participated in the meeting on behalf of the UK Space Agency in 2018, sharing current EO capacity building efforts supported by UK and opportunities for collaborating, with particular interest shown in UK-funded efforts via ODA, GCRF and IPP programmes. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | http://ceos.org/meetings/wgcapd-7/ |
Description | Participant in CEOS WGCapD annual meeting 2019 |
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 | The CEOS Working Group on Capacity Building and Data Democracy (WGCapD) meets annually to coordinate on capacity building activities, avoiding duplication of efforts and pooling resources amongst space agencies. NCEO participated in the meeting, sharing current EO capacity building efforts supported by UK, new tools being used to support capacity development in the UK, and opportunities for collaborating bilaterally/internationally for capacity development. NCEO also led a discussion on examples of co-designed capacity development projects, with many drawn from the UK. NCEO accepted the invitation to coordinate the AfriGEOSS Symposium training workshops in August 2019. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | http://ceos.org/meetings/wgcapd-8/ |
Description | Presentation at Colombia's 4th Annual National Seminar on Forest Cover Monitoring of Colombia, in Bogota (2019) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Invited to present results of the UKSA IPP Forests 2020 project at Colombia's 4th Annual National Seminar on Forest Cover Monitoring of Colombia, in Bogota (2019) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | http://www.siac.gov.co/agenda-cuarto-seminario |
Description | Presentation at Earth Information Day during Madrid's Conference Of Parties (COP25) |
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 | I was invited by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as host, by suggestion from BEIS to represent NCEO at the Earth Information Day of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) during Madrid's COP25. He presented a poster featuring NCEO's Carbon cycle: land, atmosphere & oceans, and Official Development Assistance (ODA) research. Earth Information Day provides an opportunity for Parties and non-Party stakeholders to meet with members of the systematic observation community to discuss the latest activities and exchange information on the state of the global climate system, Earth observation implementation, needs and services. The event was mandated at SBSTA 50, and its content is guided by previous mandates and submissions. The information and discussions presented may be used to inform negotiations. Earth Information Day is open to observers, and webcast. The themes covered by the event where i) Updates on the state of the global climate; ii) Updates on implementing Earth observation: for region and country support, and needs; and iii) The value chain: Earth observation for science, policy and practice. I presented a poster on the theme "Updates on implementing Earth observation: for region and country support, and needs" covering the most up-to-date NCEO research results on atmospheric and terrestrial carbon. The poster depicted results on the net carbon emissions from tropical Africa, top-down evaluation of country-scale CH4 emissions, country-wide estimation of biomass carbon stocks, and characterization of vegetation sinks/sources at national scale. The event was structured in two oral sessions and a panel discussion in the morning, and one poster session in the afternoon. Relevant speakers from the WMO, IPCC, CEOS, and GCOS, among others, presented updates on their work |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://unfccc.int/topics/science/events-meetings/systematic-observation/earth-information-day-2019 |
Description | Presentation at the AGU Fall Meeting Conference in San Francisco (US) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Oral presentation on the work on biomass mapping over the Brazilian Cerrado within the Forests2020 project at the AGU 2019 conference in San Francisco (US) in December. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.agu.org/fall-meeting |
Description | Presentation at the Forest Ecosystem Function Colloquium (FEFCO) - Kyoto (Japan) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Invited to present at the Forest Ecosystem Function Colloquium (FEFCO) - University of Kyoto (Japan) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://www.bluemoon.kais.kyoto-u.ac.jp/FEFCO/pdf/35thFEFCO-poster.pdf |
Description | Presentation to GEOGLAM Project Update Weminar |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | We presented on progress on ground data collection and initial analysis for maize in northern Ghana. The presentation was attended by more than 20 people distributed globally who are involved in the GeoGLAM project. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.dropbox.com/s/siaxce9djmz1v4i/GSSTI_UCL_NCEO_GeoGLAM_GhanaFieldCampaign.mp4?dl=0 |
Description | Radar remote sensing course for Brazil, Colombia , Mexico, and UK partners |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Imparted a 5-day training course held at the University of Leicester in August 2018 with representatives from different organisations from Brazil, Colombia , Mexico, and UK partners |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Radar remote sensing course for Indonesia, Ghana and Kenya partners |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Imparted a 5 day training course held at the University of Leicester in May 2018 with representatives from different organisations from Indonesia, Ghana, and Kenya |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Session Chair for the CCI Biomass Change workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This technical workshop provided the opportunity for scientists, across the globe, charged with generating biomass change maps to formulate the principles that underlie forest biomass change estimation, the problems in doing so and develop meaningful estimates of the accuracy of such change measures. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | https://climate.esa.int/en/events/biomass-change-workshop-19-october-6-november-2020/ |
Description | Stakeholder workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, April 2016 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | We held a REDD+ stakeholder workshop chaired by Kenya's national REDD+ coordinator. The workshop came up with user requirements for better forest monitoring from satellite data. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | http://www2.le.ac.uk/news/blog/2016-archive/april/satellite-project-will-monitor-kenya2019s-forests-... |
Description | The Japan Geoscience Union (JpGU) Meeting in Chiba (Japan), 26-30 May 2019 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Oral presentation and poster at the the Japan Geoscience Union (JpGU) Meeting in Chiba (Japan), 26-30 May 2019 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | http://www.jpgu.org/meeting_e2019/index.php |
Description | Training for AfriGEOSS Symposium capacity building workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | During the AfriGEOSS Week, held in Libreville, Gabon, from 22 to 29 June 2018, four days of training courses were organized (22 to 25 June) to the Symposium (26 to 28 June). The training was organised by the CEOS Working Group on Capacity Building and Data Democracy on the Use of Earth Observations for Environmental Monitoring in Africa. Instructors from NCEO and the Centre for Landscape and Climate Research at the University of Leicester supported this alongside trainers from the European Space Agency, the United States of America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Kenya-based Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD), and the Niger-based Agrometeorology, Hydrology, and Meteorology regional center (AGRHYMET) on behalf of the respective SERVIR Eastern & Southern Africa and SERVIR West Africa programs (NASA and USAID). Twenty participants from a range of backgrounds attended from Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Niger, Senegal, and South Africa attended and interacted enthusiastically with the sessions. Further training in support of AfriGEOSS Week is requested for 2019, to be coordinated by NCEO on behalf of CEOS WGCapD. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | http://ceos.org/document_management/Working_Groups/WGCapD/AfriGEOSS_Workshopp_EO-Training_Gabon_Repo... |
Description | UK Expertise in International Forest MRV Workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The workshop brought together academics and industry representatives working in the global forest MRV sector with the aim to identify: 1. Key areas of MRV expertise and capability gaps within the UK 2. Our current role in and need for improvement of MRV assessment processes 3. Readiness levels of current technologies and capabilities for MRV 4. Future work, required investment and timeframes |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://www.nceo.ac.uk/innovation/uk-expertise-international-afolu-mrv-workshop/ |
Description | Urgent response to DFID for Mozambique flood response |
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 | We have had an urgent request from DFID to support them on examination of flood areas for Mozambique following the cyclone Idai. We quickly assembled a small group of experts across NCEO to quickly respond to this request. I was the official point of contact organising telecons and disseminating data to DFID. I made the work visible via the Disaster Charter website - https://disasterscharter.org/web/guest/home;jsessionid=231B19F78DBFE1E7D99AB0A1D37F899E.jvm1 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://disasterscharter.org/documents/10180/1539407/vap-688-20-quicklook.png/1c1119cc-af80-403e-a73... |
Description | Workshop on crop modelling, remote sensing and data assimilation, Accra, Ghana. |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | We held a three day workshop in Accra, Ghana, at the offices of the Ghana Space Science Technology Institute (GSSTI) to provide training in data assimilation, modelling and remote sensing with the general theme of crops and agriculture in the tropics. Attendees came from a number of organisations, including GSSTI itself, but also the Ghana Meteorological Agency and local universities. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | contribution to the ISPRS SC NewsLetter |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | I contributed with visual media to the ISPRS SC NewsLetter (SPECTRUM) Volume 14: No. 3, on the topic SAR Remote Sensing |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
URL | http://sc.isprs.org/sc-newsletter.html |