Earth observation and spatial analysis
Our group uses Earth observation and spatial analysis to understand the environment.
Current projects
The tropical FOrest Degradation EXperiment (FODEX)
FODEX is a 5-year European Research Council (ERC) funded project with the aim of creating and testing methods of mapping tropical biomass change. We know the much more tropical forest is degraded each year than deforested - perhaps ten times as much. Degradation involves removing one or more trees from a forest, but after the disturbance sufficient trees remain for the land to still be classed as a 'forest'. It is hard to map this disturbance, but in this project, we are setting up experimental plots in Gabon and Peru to collect excellent data before and after selective logging. Our researchers will then use this new data to develop algorithms to map forest degradation across the tropics using satellite data, helping governments and others to ultimately reduce such degradation.
Further examples of collaborative research include:
Long-range UAV LiDAR borne for data calibration for agriculture and forest monitoring services
Principal Investigator: Professor Mathew Williams
Carbon storage in Amazonian peatlands: distribution and dynamics
Principal Investigator: Professor Edward Mitchard and (Co-Investigator) Mathew Williams
3D UAV data combined with Sentinel1 C-band backscatter to allow extrapolation using data assimilation techniques
Principal Investigator: Professor Mathew Williams
Cocoa: future yields across West Africa
Principal Investigator: Professor Mathew Williams; with (Co-investigator)The Roslin Institute, UK
CSSP Brazil BZ2: evaluation of South American ecosystem processes
Principal Investigator: Professor Mathew Williams
Detection and Attribution of Regional greenhouse gas Emissions in the UK (DARE-UK)
Principal Investigator: Dr Tom Arnold, Professor Paul Palmer (Co-investigator), and (Co-investigator) Professor Mathew Williams
Diagnosis, data assimilation and decision-making systems for precision management of water and nitrogen in Southern China
Principal Investigator: Professor Mathew Williams
Carbon Storage in Amazonian peatlands: distribution and dynamics
Principal Investigator: Professor Edward Mitchard, and (Co-investigator) Professor Mathew Williams
Soils research to deliver greenhouse gas removals and abatement technologies
Principal Investigator: Professor Mathew Williams; with (Co-investigator) The Roslin Institute, UK
A socio-ecological observatory for the Southern African woodlands
Principal Investigator: Dr Casey Ryan, (Co-investigator) Dr Kyle Dexter, (Co-investigator) Dr Caroline Lehman, (Co-investigator) Professor Edward Mitchard, and (Co-investigator) Professor Mathew Williams
Advanced technologies for efficient crop management: a participatory approach with application at farm scale
Principal Investigator: Professor Mathew Williams, and (Co-investigator) Dr Alisdair MacArthur
A soil moisture and crop yield diagnostic system for sub-Saharan Africa
Principal Investigator: Professor Mathew Williams
Congo Peat: past, present and future of the peatlands of the central Congo Basin
Principal Investigator: Professor Edward Mitchard
Lightning: An invisible driver of tree mortality in the tropics?
Principal Investigator: Professor Edward Mitchard
Valuing intact tropical peatlands: an interdisciplinary challenge
Principal Investigator: Professor Edward Mitchard
Three-dimensional change detection of aboveground biomass
Investigating team: NASA; with Dr Steven Hancock
Mapping boreal forest biomass density for the ABoVE (Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment) domain circa 2020 with ICESat-2.
Investigating team: NASA; with University of Maryland, USA; and Dr Steven Hancock
Visit the Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) website
Soundscapes to landscapes (S2L): monitoring animal biodiversity from space using citizen scientists
Investigating team: NASA; with Sonoma State University, USA; and Dr Steven Hancock
Our researchers in Earth observation and spatial analysis are:
- Dr Tim Arnold
- Dr Murray Collins
- Dr Steven Hancock
- Professor Edward Mitchard
- Professor John Moncrieff
- Dr Caroline Nichol
- Professor Mathew Williams
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