TESEO Desertification

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=210 BGCOLOR="#99CC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="1948dfc3.jpg"> <div> <B><IMG SRC="1fcb9650.gif" border=0 width="185" height="101" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="EnvironmentEcologyForestry"><U><B>Return to Home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id8.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Trust and Mission"><U><B>Trust and Mission</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Resource Persons"><U><B>Resource Persons</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Curriculum Vitae of Claude R. Heimo"><U><I><B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c811111100.gif" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">CV Claude R. 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Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Convention on Marine Pollution (MARPOL). Within this framework, sarmap in collaboration with the Remote Sensing Department of the University of Valencia (Spain), EOS.D2C (France) the Chinese Academy of Forestry and EEF Switzerland, has been commissioned by ESA to define a set of novel EO-based products or services aimed at supporting the implementation of the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD); and provide general recommendations for future European EO missions and programs.</div> <bR> <div> The work done under this contract from August 2001 to March 2003 clearly indicate that the range of information that can be extracted from Earth Observation data for desertification assessment and monitoring and early warning in case of meteorological anomalies (such as drought) is wide, even if some methods are still experimental. While the most advanced operational products are currently based on meteorological geo-stationary or polar orbiting low-resolution systems, the most promising ones are based on hyper-spectral and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instruments. In this respect, ENVISAT, the new European satellite successfully launched on March 1st, 2002 is a promising system for the monitoring of desertification processes, especially due to the presence on board of two instruments, namely the MEdium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) and Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR). The integration of these data combined with information provided by very high spatial resolution optical sensors will enable the extraction and retrieval of the most relevant biophysical parameters related to desertification and drought. </div> <bR> <div> However, as the processes of land degradation and desertification are driven by a myriad of climatic and human-induced influences, improving the assessment and monitoring of desertification and providing early warning in case of drought require a simple but robust methodology able to integrate EO-based products with meteorological data, in-situ ground measurements, and socio-economic factors affecting human behaviors, notably unsustainable uses of land and water resources. For this reason, consortium has developed an integrated model - and related services - for the generation of vulnerability and risk maps, based on a land degradation indicators, land management (or farming) systems, human and animal pressures on natural resources, demographic changes, poverty, food security levels, precipitation intensity and frequency of droughts.  </div> <bR> <div> An overview of the integrated model, which has been tested and validated in four countries (China, Mongolia, Algeria and Senegal), is given below:</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="206002b0.gif" border=0 width="512" height="299" ALT="Image Bitmap" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >Defi</FONT>ning end users' and strategic requirements,<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT>as anticipated under the TESEO program, was a complicated task due to the complexity of desertification problems observed in the different biophysical, social and economic settings and the great variety of end users. According to the findings of the first phase, end users' needs fall under two main categories: (i) more adequate information to improve desertification assessment and early warning in case of drought and enhance decision-making; and (ii) capacity building and training to expand the use of and integration of spaceborne technology into existing planning and mitigation/response processes (technology transfer). </div> <bR> <div> This assessment led to the development of a complementary capacity building initiative, financed by the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC), resulting in the training of remote sensing experts from China, Mongolia and Senegal in the field of new EO and communication technologies.  As such this training initiative was focused on the development of adequate desertification monitoring and drought early warning systems and the management, the analysis, the dissemination and the use of data provided through these systems. Such an initiative was strongly supported by the UNCCD as well as by the European Space Agency. </div> <bR> <div> <I><B>TESEO Follow-up</B></I></div> <bR> <div> Based on the results and findings of the TESEO project, sarmap and EEF-Switzerland are currently associated for the development of an integrated EO-based service designed to improve the sustainable management of natural resources and disaster prevention in Mongolia. The preparation of this project will be financed with proceeds of the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC)</div> <bR> <div> In the context of Mongolia, managing natural ecosystems and land resources in a sustainable way and providing early warning in case of natural disasters require assessing and monitoring the type and severity of ecosystem and land degradation due to overgrazing and forest fires and diseases, a determination of causes of degradation that has occurred and the selection and application of appropriate actions to counter the problems. </div> <bR> <div> As a result, the goal of this project would be to develop and implement an operational service based on adequate high-resolution Earth Observation (EO) products (such as topography, vegetation index, land cover maps, etc..) integrated with meteorological (precipitation, temperatures, etc.), socio-economic (population and animal density, etc.), other (theme-related) ancillary data, and geo-referenced ground measurements with a particular focus on grassland management, which would:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.gif" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Monitor natural ecosystems' changes considering the impacts of various causes, including climate change, exposure to land use and other natural disasters;</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.gif" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Determine grassland ecosystems' vulnerability considering global change pressures (human, climatic and physical);</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.gif" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Model and predict its change considering possible socio-economic and climatic scenarios; </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.gif" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Model and predict precipitation and climatic anomalies; and</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.gif" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Promote the EO-based service for disaster preparedness through training and capacity building.</div> <bR> <div> The proposed service to estimate, model and predict vulnerability in Mongolia is illustrated in the figure below:</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="202c01a0.gif" border=0 width="448" height="282" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Exemple of high-resolution mapping product processed by </B></I><I><B>SARscape®</B></I></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="24040a40.gif" border=0 width="576" height="420" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Senegal: Groundnut Basin: Vegetation cover change 1995-2000</div> </td> </tr></table></body>