The role of Earth Observation (EO) technologies in supporting implementation of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
Introduction
In this paper we provide a synthesis of information on the role of Earth Observation (EO) technologies in supporting the implementation of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. This draws on the outcomes of the GlobWetland Symposium (19–20 October 2006, Frascati, Italy) organized by the European Space Agency in collaboration with the Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP) of the Convention (Fernández-Prieto et al., 2006) and augmented by information from other publications. The GlobWetland Symposium offered an opportunity for professional practitioners from diverse fields, viz. members of the EO and wetland management communities, to meet and discuss current and emerging applications of EO. The results provide an overview of the key areas of current research and application of EO for mapping and managing wetlands, while also pointing out gaps that could hinder global inventory, assessment and monitoring of wetlands. These gaps include the need to develop and apply techniques that can be readily used for baseline inventory and assessment and monitoring at different spatial and temporal scales.
The Ramsar Convention and its partners have recognised many of these gaps over a number of years through a broadly consistent set of recommendations that have proved to be overly ambitious given the levels of institutional capacity and capability for wetland inventory, assessment and monitoring on the ground (Finlayson et al., 2001, Davidson and Finlayson, 2007). In response and in collaboration with the Convention's Secretariat and STRP several initiatives have been undertaken to further explore the usefulness of EO technologies for wetlands. The Japanese space agency (JAXA) has supported the Kyoto & Carbon Initiative to investigate (amongst other tasks) the usefulness for wetland inventory and monitoring of L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar data from the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) launched in January 2006 (Rosenqvist et al., 2007). The GlobWetland project was launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2003 with the aim of developing and demonstrating the usefulness of EO-based information services for wetland managers and national authorities responsible for the implementation of the Ramsar Convention (Jones et al., 2009, Fernández-Prieto et al., 2006). In this context, the GlobWetland symposium presented an opportunity to illustrate the outcomes of the GlobWetland project, and also to address the role of EO for supporting wetland management activities within the context of the Ramsar Convention and more broadly.
In this paper we engage in some speculation on these issues, and consider possible directions and priorities for future research, development and application of EO-based technologies in wetland management.
Section snippets
Overview of the Ramsar Convention and wise use of wetlands
Wetlands are havens for wildlife and vital to the water cycle, but they are also under threat (Revenga et al., 2000, Dudgeon et al., 2005, Mitsch and Gosselink, 2007). Wetlands are scattered across the world in all biogeographic regions, providing a range of critically important ecosystem services and supporting the livelihoods and well-being of many people, both directly and indirectly (Finlayson et al., 2005). For much of the 20th Century, wetlands were drained or otherwise degraded; however,
Spatial information needs for wetland management in the context of the Ramsar Convention
Recognizing that the different groups of implementing agents have interests, mandates and responsibilities that influence the scale and resolution of spatial information required for implementation, we also need to consider the information needed to support the different components of implementation activities. So, cutting across the three somewhat generic types of implementation agents, are a number of implementation activities that together support the wise use of wetlands.
Fig. 1 indicates
How are EO-based technologies currently serving wetland management information needs?
A total of 48 papers and posters were presented at the GlobWetland Symposium. Although the Symposium did not necessarily cover the full range of currently active institutions, research initiatives and applications of EO technology, the presentations at the Symposium can be seen as indicative of the range of applications and research that are presently being undertaken. In that sense, the Symposium proceedings can be considered as a fairly representative selection of examples of the state of the
Terminology
Despite attempts through the Ramsar Convention to standardise terms there still seem to be different understandings of inventory, assessment and mapping (with confusion being observed between the terms inventory and mapping, particularly). Clarification and standardisation of terminology related to mapping, inventory, assessment, and monitoring is an area that needs more attention in order to improve shared understanding between the EO and wetlands communities. Continued interactions between
Future EO technical capabilities
Between 1996 and 2006, more than 30 different EO missions loading optical and radar sensors with spatial resolutions better than 30 m were launched. In the coming 6 years, more than 50 new missions (optical and radar) relevant for wetlands observation are planned, increasing the availability of satellite imagery to unprecedented levels. The capacity of coming sensors will significantly increase the potential to assess wetlands from space. For instance, while the average spatial resolution of
Conclusions and recommendations
As a general statement, applications for different aspects of wetland implementation needs are at different levels of development and uptake, so it is not yet common to see integration of EO technologies at consistent scales and resolutions throughout the wetland management cycle. Admittedly, EO is not always the most appropriate technology for all aspects of the wetland management cycle. However, in some areas, such as mapping and inventory, EO can and often does serve as a foundation or core
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank: 1) The European Space Agency and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands for jointly convening and hosting the GlobWetland Symposium, from which the information and discussions contained in this paper have been drawn. 2) The session chairpersons and discussion panel members at the GlobWetland Symposium, whose initial summaries and subsequent comments informed the development of this paper, including Olivier Arino (ESA), Eric van Valkengoed (Vexcel), Teresita Borges (Ramsar
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Present address: Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, Australia.