SAREDD - An operational service providing reliable forest degradation information using satellite radar data

The monitoring of tropical forest degradation has a major contribution to make to the global challenge of climate change and the wellbeing of those who live in these environments. Compared to tropical deforestation, the monitoring of forest degradation has not received the same level of research and significant challenges remain. Astrium Geo-Information Division, University of Edinburgh and the Gabon Ministry of the Environment have created a partnership to develop a system that uses satellite radar data to deliver annual maps of tropical forest degradation. The launch of the Sentinel-1 satellite by the European Space Agency in 2014 will provide substantial amounts of radar data over the tropics and the project will develop techniques that will integrate those images with other datasets to produce the required maps. This will take place within a system capable of processing the large amounts of data involved and providing an efficient means of distribution. A prototype system using currently available radar data will demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed service.