Plant Biodiversity Use Of Remote Sensing Techniques Volume 1

The variability and variety of plant life which exists on the Earth is known as plant biodiversity. It faces threats from multiple sources such as extraction of resources, climate change, and human-driven disturbances. Remote sensing is a technology that enables the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object in contrast to in-situ or on-site observation. It uses satellites, drones, and air-based sensors to gather information on a specific object or area. The techniques of remote sensing can be utilized for consistent and multi-temporal analysis of plant biodiversity. This book is a detailed explanation of the various applications of remote sensing techniques with respect to plant biodiversity. It will also provide interesting topics for research, which interested readers can take up. Coherent flow of topics, student-friendly language, and extensive use of examples make this book an invaluable source of knowledge.

The variability and variety of plant life which exists on the Earth is known as plant biodiversity. It faces threats from multiple sources such as extraction of resources, climate change, and human-driven disturbances. Remote sensing is a technology that enables the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object in contrast to in-situ or on-site observation. It uses satellites, drones, and air-based sensors to gather information on a specific object or area. The techniques of remote sensing can be utilized for consistent and multi-temporal analysis of plant biodiversity. This book is a detailed explanation of the various applications of remote sensing techniques with respect to plant biodiversity. It will also provide interesting topics for research, which interested readers can take up. Coherent flow of topics, student-friendly language, and extensive use of examples make this book an invaluable source of knowledge.

This Open Access volume aims to methodologically improve our understanding of biodiversity by linking disciplines that incorporate remote sensing, and uniting data and perspectives in the fields of biology, landscape ecology, and geography. The book provides a framework for how biodiversity can be detected and evaluated—focusing particularly on plants—using proximal and remotely sensed hyperspectral data and other tools such as LiDAR. The volume, whose chapters bring together a large cross-section of the biodiversity community engaged in these methods, attempts to establish a common language across disciplines for understanding and implementing remote sensing of biodiversity across scales. The first part of the book offers a potential basis for remote detection of biodiversity. An overview of the nature of biodiversity is described, along with ways for determining traits of plant biodiversity through spectral analyses across spatial scales and linking spectral data to the tree of life. The second part details what can be detected spectrally and remotely. Specific instrumentation and technologies are described, as well as the technical challenges of detection and data synthesis, collection and processing. The third part discusses spatial resolution and integration across scales and ends with a vision for developing a global biodiversity monitoring system. Topics include spectral and functional variation across habitats and biomes, biodiversity variables for global scale assessment, and the prospects and pitfalls in remote sensing of biodiversity at the global scale.

This Open Access volume aims to methodologically improve our understanding of biodiversity by linking disciplines that incorporate remote sensing, and uniting data and perspectives in the fields of biology, landscape ecology, and geography. The book provides a framework for how biodiversity can be detected and evaluated—focusing particularly on plants—using proximal and remotely sensed hyperspectral data and other tools such as LiDAR. The volume, whose chapters bring together a large cross-section of the biodiversity community engaged in these methods, attempts to establish a common language across disciplines for understanding and implementing remote sensing of biodiversity across scales. The first part of the book offers a potential basis for remote detection of biodiversity. An overview of the nature of biodiversity is described, along with ways for determining traits of plant biodiversity through spectral analyses across spatial scales and linking spectral data to the tree of life. The second part details what can be detected spectrally and remotely. Specific instrumentation and technologies are described, as well as the technical challenges of detection and data synthesis, collection and processing. The third part discusses spatial resolution and integration across scales and ends with a vision for developing a global biodiversity monitoring system. Topics include spectral and functional variation across habitats and biomes, biodiversity variables for global scale assessment, and the prospects and pitfalls in remote sensing of biodiversity at the global scale.

The work of conservation biology has grown from local studies of single species into a discipline concerned with mapping and managing biodiversity on a global scale. Remote sensing, using satellite and aerial imaging to measure and map the environment, increasingly provides a vital tool for effective collection of the information needed to research and set policy for conservation priorities. The perceived complexities of remotely sensed data and analyses have tended to discourage scientists and managers from using this valuable resource. This text focuses on making remote sensing tools accessible to a larger audience of non-specialists, highlighting strengths and limitations while emphasizing the ways that remotely sensed data can be captured and used, especially for evaluating human impacts on ecological systems.

"This sourcebook is intended to assist environmental managers and others who work with indicators in pursuing appropriate methods for indicator testing and production, and to offer some guidance to those responsible for the interpretation of indicators and implementation of decisions based on them. Upon reading this document, technical advisers, environmental policy makers, and remote sensing lab directors and project managers should be able to identify specific, relevant uses of remote sensing data for biodiversity monitoring and indicator development related to the CBD." --p. 8.

An accessible yet rigorous introduction to remote sensing and its application to the study of vegetation for advanced undergraduate and graduate students. The underlying physical and mathematical principles of the techniques disucussed are explained in a way readily understood by those without a strong mathematical background.