Summit Declaration establishes the objective “to monitor continuously the state of the
Earth, to increase understanding of dynamic Earth processes, to enhance prediction of
the Earth system, and to further implement our international environmental treaty
obligations”, and thus the need for “timely, quality, long-term, global information as a
basis for sound decision making” (ibid). Thus, the purpose of the Summit was to
promote the development of a comprehensive, coordinated, and sustained Earth
observation ‘system of systems’ among governments and the international community.
The objective is to understand and address global environmental and economic
challenges and benefits of an international global observation system. A process is in
place to develop a conceptual framework and implementation plan for building this
comprehensive, coordinated, and sustained Earth observation system of systems.
Of particular interest for readers of this book is the creation of a Users Interface
Working Group acknowledging the operational nature of the System of Systems. A
primary rationale is “…GEOSS benefits will be realized by a broad range of user
communities, including managers and policy makers in the targeted societal benefit
areas, scientific researchers and engineers, civil society, governmental and nongovernmental organizations and international bodies” (User Interface Proposal,GEOSS
working document, April 2005). GEOSS is poised to be the source for operational
multiplatform data that can be used in day-to-day environmental analysis. There is
great promise for confident use of remote sensing in a variety of environmental
management strategies.
The rationale for this book, which began at about the time of the Johannesburg
summit, was our belief that remote sensing has matured to the point where current
image data are of sufficient spatial and spectral resolution to allow identification of
remote sensing ‘fingerprints’ of importance to coastal ecosystems. Detection of these
fingerprints in turn allows detection of change or variability in such ecosystems at a
level that has not been previously possible. We believe that remote sensing
instrumentation, technology, and image analysis can be used to conduct quantitative
science, and can be used to interpret an existing historical archive of image data that, in
some cases, extends back in time over 30 years (e.g. Landsat imagery). Even if such
earlier data are not of sufficient spectral or spatial resolution to allow identification of
‘fingerprints’, data fusion techniques can link the two (current and past) data sets to
provide valuable information on the nature, rate, and location of change. When these
data are combined with data sets such as sedimentation rates, deforestation extent and
timing, extent of pollution episodes, etc., we envision a powerful integrated data tool
that can be used to derive meaningful policy regarding coastal ecosystems.
The coastal ecosystem is affected by natural and anthropogenic processes that can
cause perturbations at a variety of scales in both time and in space. We need to
demonstrate the realistic value of the use of remotely sensed data, in particular when
used in combination with traditional in situ data, to understand these perturbations at
the process level as well as to track such changes over time. We see this approach as
crucial for providing credible information for development and validation of
management policy. While similar studies have been completed and are widely used
for remote sensing applications in land based vegetation systems and blue water
oceanography, the remote sensing of coastal ecosystems has lagged behind. This is, in
large part, due to the fact that coastal aquatic systems present notable challenges, for
example highly complex and interacting spectral signatures, as should be evident from
reading this book. However, research in this area has been very active over the past
decade and is yielding important new findings and success stories as we write.
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Earth, to increase understanding of dynamic Earth processes, to enhance prediction of
the Earth system, and to further implement our international environmental treaty
obligations”, and thus the need for “timely, quality, long-term, global information as a
basis for sound decision making” (ibid). Thus, the purpose of the Summit was to
promote the development of a comprehensive, coordinated, and sustained Earth
observation ‘system of systems’ among governments and the international community.
The objective is to understand and address global environmental and economic
challenges and benefits of an international global observation system. A process is in
place to develop a conceptual framework and implementation plan for building this
comprehensive, coordinated, and sustained Earth observation system of systems.
Of particular interest for readers of this book is the creation of a Users Interface
Working Group acknowledging the operational nature of the System of Systems. A
primary rationale is “…GEOSS benefits will be realized by a broad range of user
communities, including managers and policy makers in the targeted societal benefit
areas, scientific researchers and engineers, civil society, governmental and nongovernmental organizations and international bodies” (User Interface Proposal,GEOSS
working document, April 2005). GEOSS is poised to be the source for operational
multiplatform data that can be used in day-to-day environmental analysis. There is
great promise for confident use of remote sensing in a variety of environmental
management strategies.
The rationale for this book, which began at about the time of the Johannesburg
summit, was our belief that remote sensing has matured to the point where current
image data are of sufficient spatial and spectral resolution to allow identification of
remote sensing ‘fingerprints’ of importance to coastal ecosystems. Detection of these
fingerprints in turn allows detection of change or variability in such ecosystems at a
level that has not been previously possible. We believe that remote sensing
instrumentation, technology, and image analysis can be used to conduct quantitative
science, and can be used to interpret an existing historical archive of image data that, in
some cases, extends back in time over 30 years (e.g. Landsat imagery). Even if such
earlier data are not of sufficient spectral or spatial resolution to allow identification of
‘fingerprints’, data fusion techniques can link the two (current and past) data sets to
provide valuable information on the nature, rate, and location of change. When these
data are combined with data sets such as sedimentation rates, deforestation extent and
timing, extent of pollution episodes, etc., we envision a powerful integrated data tool
that can be used to derive meaningful policy regarding coastal ecosystems.
The coastal ecosystem is affected by natural and anthropogenic processes that can
cause perturbations at a variety of scales in both time and in space. We need to
demonstrate the realistic value of the use of remotely sensed data, in particular when
used in combination with traditional in situ data, to understand these perturbations at
the process level as well as to track such changes over time. We see this approach as
crucial for providing credible information for development and validation of
management policy. While similar studies have been completed and are widely used
for remote sensing applications in land based vegetation systems and blue water
oceanography, the remote sensing of coastal ecosystems has lagged behind. This is, in
large part, due to the fact that coastal aquatic systems present notable challenges, for
example highly complex and interacting spectral signatures, as should be evident from
reading this book. However, research in this area has been very active over the past
decade and is yielding important new findings and success stories as we write.
308
LeDrew and Richardson