vi
sensed spectra and explores the processes behind the patterns we observe. Examples
from the field demonstrate the rising synthesis of multiple disciplines to create a
new cross-spatial and spectral science of biodiversity.
Part 2 discusses how to implement this evolving science. It focuses on the plethora of novel in-situ, airborne, and spaceborne Earth observation tools currently and
soon to be available while also incorporating the ways of actually making biodiversity measurements with these tools. It includes instructions for organizing and conducting a field campaign. Throughout, there is a focus on the burgeoning field of
imaging spectroscopy, which is revolutionizing our ability to characterize life
remotely.
Part 3 takes on an overarching issue for any effort to globalize biodiversity observations, the issue of scale. It addresses scale from two perspectives. The first is that
of combining observations across varying spatial, temporal, and spectral resolutions
for better understanding—that is, what scales and how. This is an area of ongoing
research driven by a confluence of innovations in observation systems and rising
computational capacity. The second is the organizational side of the scaling challenge. It explores existing frameworks for integrating multi-scale observations
within global networks. The focus here is on what practical steps can be taken to
organize multi-scale data and what is already happening in this regard. These frameworks include essential biodiversity variables and the Group on Earth Observations
Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON).
This book constitutes an end-to-end guide uniting the latest in research and techniques to cover the theory and practice of the remote sensing of plant biodiversity.
In putting it together, the editors and their coauthors, all preeminent in their fields,
have done a great service for those seeking to understand and conserve life on
Earth—just when we need it most. For if the world is ever to construct a coordinated response to the planetwide crisis of biodiversity loss, it must first assemble
adequate—and global—measures of what we are losing.
Woody Turner
Earth Science Division
NASA Headquarters,
Washington, DC, USA
Foreword
sensed spectra and explores the processes behind the patterns we observe. Examples
from the field demonstrate the rising synthesis of multiple disciplines to create a
new cross-spatial and spectral science of biodiversity.
Part 2 discusses how to implement this evolving science. It focuses on the plethora of novel in-situ, airborne, and spaceborne Earth observation tools currently and
soon to be available while also incorporating the ways of actually making biodiversity measurements with these tools. It includes instructions for organizing and conducting a field campaign. Throughout, there is a focus on the burgeoning field of
imaging spectroscopy, which is revolutionizing our ability to characterize life
remotely.
Part 3 takes on an overarching issue for any effort to globalize biodiversity observations, the issue of scale. It addresses scale from two perspectives. The first is that
of combining observations across varying spatial, temporal, and spectral resolutions
for better understanding—that is, what scales and how. This is an area of ongoing
research driven by a confluence of innovations in observation systems and rising
computational capacity. The second is the organizational side of the scaling challenge. It explores existing frameworks for integrating multi-scale observations
within global networks. The focus here is on what practical steps can be taken to
organize multi-scale data and what is already happening in this regard. These frameworks include essential biodiversity variables and the Group on Earth Observations
Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON).
This book constitutes an end-to-end guide uniting the latest in research and techniques to cover the theory and practice of the remote sensing of plant biodiversity.
In putting it together, the editors and their coauthors, all preeminent in their fields,
have done a great service for those seeking to understand and conserve life on
Earth—just when we need it most. For if the world is ever to construct a coordinated response to the planetwide crisis of biodiversity loss, it must first assemble
adequate—and global—measures of what we are losing.
Woody Turner
Earth Science Division
NASA Headquarters,
Washington, DC, USA
Foreword