The ever increasing amount, diversity and quality of environmental satellite observations is largely underexploited. Huge amounts are available for free though the highest resolution or near-realtime data or specific products are only available to paying customers. Some observation programmes have a multi-decadal record, providing documentation on long-term changes. For example, the observations of the Landsat programme provide information on land use with a spatial resolution of 30m or better as far back as the mid eighties.
Initial work is focusing on:
- Cloud detection and cloud masking
- Woody vegetation maps
- Annual change in woody vegetation maps