Remote Sensing for Environmental Data in Albania: A Strategy for Integrated Management

It is a pleasure and honour for me as President of the Albanian Atlantic Association to address the speakers and participants of this workshop concerning some contemporary scientific problems related to a more vigorous and prospective development of Albania and the entire region.

As the Director of the Albanian Military Topographic Institute, an organisation which is responsible not only for military purposes but for all official topographic mapping activities in Albania, I would like to express my deep thankfulness to the Co-Chairmen, for the invitation to participate in this workshop, co-organised by representatives of the Institute for Cartography of the Dresden University of Technology and of Alb-Euro Consulting, Tirana.

Let me first of all tell you a few words about history of the workshop which we are opening today.

Albania is a Mediterranean country with an area of 28 748 km². Within its borders you can find different landscapes: the most western part, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, comprises hilly areas and recent and historic glacial plains in different elevations with extensive agricultural use of the Mediterranean type, while more towards the east the continental character of climate is more pronounced. The major part of the hinterland is mountainous or even alpine in character, showing among rugged parts also high-elevation plains and in small spots even perennial snow. The surface is a mix of dense forest and exposed rock outcrops on steeper slopes. Because of this diversity of geographical landscapes and their biodiversity Albania is called the “Great Natural Museum”.

Over the past 30 to 40 years Earth Observation (EO) has undergone a tremendous development, not only with respect to the manifold applications feasible today, but also with respect to the technologies utilised to handle space borne information. In the beginning it was the synoptic information, which triggered scientists and especially geologists when analysing the first space borne photographs. Snapshots presenting large areas of the earth’s surface revealed features and interrelationships of earth scientific phenomena never seen before.

In the seventieth the US government initiated and implemented the so-called LANDSAT program, which is still in operation today, and which consisted over the years of a series of EO satellite systems. For the first time these automatic-operating satellites provided a constant and complex information flow from space.

The success of the Landsat program has spawned many similar earth resources satellites by several other nations as well as private industries. Presently more than 20 earth observation systems are providing data on a routine basis for operational applications in various fields, e.g. cartography (map updating, topographic and thematic base mapping), land cover/-use assessment, and monitoring environmental conditions on land and at sea. Different orbit configurations are used, and satellite sensors can view the Earth in vertical, side, or stereo modes.

The motivation for mapping from space is given by the fact that past conventional mapping methods have not been able to provide adequate mapping coverages at the required scales, except for priority areas.

INFEO — Information on Earth Observation — is the CEO (Centre for Earth Observation) Project’s on-line information system. INFEO represents a single access point for information on the availability of Earth observation (EO) related data products (i.e. metadata describing what exists) and it improves accessibility (stating how to get the data, sometimes on-line) to EO data and information. INFEO can be found at http://infeo.ceo.org/.

The CEO Project is funded by the European Commission (EC) to develop and promote the use of Earth observation (EO) data from space. INFEO represents the CEO’s initiative to make it easier for anyone to find, and gain access to EO and related data, information and services. INFEO replaces the CEO’s first generation on-line information service for EO, the European Wide Service Exchange (EWSE).

INFEO allows users to query, in parallel, EO related catalogues throughout the world, ranging from large inventories of space data to smaller geo-referenced data sets. Any query submitted in INFEO is automatically submitted to all selected on-line catalogues. It thus provides users with a common access point for local or remote data and information, and a shared way of finding information.

INFEO also allows providers of EO data, information and services to advertise their products at a one-stop shop, thereby reaching a large number of customers through a single `outlet’. Any holders of EO data or information can link their catalogues to this system so that they are included in any search.

This ideal of a one-stop shop for EO information is made possible due to the development of a common language (CIP - Catalogue Interoperability Protocol), which allows the querying of different remote data catalogues in a simple and consistent manner.

Map making with remote sensing data requires geometric and radiometric processing methods (monoscopic and stereoscopic) adapted to the nature and characteristics of the data in order to extract the best cartographic and topographic information. For the monoscopic method, different geometric and radiometric processing techniques are compared and evaluated, quantitatively and qualitatively with their impact on the resulting composite images, using panchromatic SPOT and airborne SAR images. The techniques that take into account the nature of the data give better results, with greater integrity: a subpixel geometric accuracy with high-quality composite images, which are sharp and precise and containing well-defined cartographic elements and data that are easy to interpret and closer to physical reality. The stereoscopic method still is the most common method used by the mapping, photogrammetry and remote sensing communities to extract three-dimensional information. It is successfully applied either to images in the visible spectrum or radar images to generate digital elevation model with an accuracy of tens of metres depending of the data source.

The aim of the CORINE Land Cover Mapping is to provide information on the state and changing biophysical coverage of the Earth’s surface. The European Union’s CORINE (Coordination of Information on the Environment) Land Cover Project was initiated in the EU countries in the 80’s to provide quantitative, consistent and comparable information on land cover, at a scale of 1:100 000. After the political changes in Central and Eastern Europe, the project has been extended to the East within the frame of the Phare Programme. Today the CORINE Land Cover database covers 31 countries.

CORINE Land Cover is mapped by interpretation of satellite images, and the results are stored as databases in Geographic Information Systems. These databases represent a basic tool for studies on the environment, impact assessment and regional planning on national as well as on European level.

An overview shall be given on operational methods and steps involved, when optical remote sensing data shall be digitally processed to result in a land use data base, which certainly forms one of the most prominent tasks of remote sensing. Questions of terminology (especially land use and land cover) will be covered, as well as data selection and acquisition, noise correction, geo-coding, classification, post-processing and map production. Obviously, only guide-lines can be given and it would be ways beyond the scope of this article to cover the whole spectrum of interesting approaches. It must be pointed out, that high quality demands call for an adequate regard of ancillary data; their use is still hampered by technical barriers as disperse storage and solely analogue availability, various geometric projections, and others. Moreover, commercial image processing software for use with remote sensing data does hardly provide any tools to imbed a-priory knowledge. Geo-scientific knowledge on vegetation patterns, crop-rotation systems in agriculture and phenological information around the time of image acquisition (‘dynamic vegetation models’) can significantly improve the classification results. The core task is the design of an efficient classification method, which must be carefully adapted to the class specifications. A ‘brute-force’ approach aiming at results in a single step with one universal classifier cannot be recommended. Examples for a more sophisticated solution are basically taken from a large-area project for the state of Saxony (Germany). A combination of default functions and additional procedures was allowing to profit from a selective choice of spectral bands, classifiers and (post-)processing steps at every node of a hierarchical classification tree. Wherever local image features were performing insufficiently, textural or form attributes have been included. The cited project was accompanied by the generation of a set of 15 land-use maps in a standardised layout. Finally, some remarks will be given concerning a potential project for a comprehensive land-use map in a less-developed area like Albania.

Currently in all former “socialist countries” a technological revolution is going on: information technology development and the implementation of new digital sources of data utilisation. In all European countries forestry is a major part of this market.

But especially in the above mentioned countries which are in transition, a renovation of the forest management is necessary, under the scope of the new laws about private forest property. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been discovered as new and fast tools for modern forest management.

The Czech forestry, faced with typical central European environmental problems due to air pollution and forest diseases, became a leader in remote sensing and GIS technological applications in the Czech Republic. The history of “GIS forestry” is relatively long, beginning in 1988. The current situation of GIS implementation in Czech forestry, the traditional and new data sources, and future perspectives in the context of the state administration are illustrated in this paper. Emphases will be put on modelling, monitoring and forecasting of forest diseases using a technology based on the Landsat (TM) image classification and detailed-data GIS data base generation.

Land degradation processes which imply a reduction of the potential productivity of the land (e.g., soil degradation and accelerated erosion, reduction of the quantity and diversity of natural vegetation) are widely spread in the Mediterranean basin. As a continuation of the long history of human pressure upon land resources, the main environmental impact originates from interactions between climatic characteristics and ecologically unbalanced human interventions. which, in the sense of recent definitions of the United Nations Environmental Programme¹, are often summarised as desertification processes (e.g., Thomas and Middleton, 1994). An overview of the ecological, physical, social, economic and cultural issues which are collectively contributing to the increasing risk of further degradation of Mediterranean lands has been presented by Perez-Trejo (1994). The same author concludes that a reconceptualisation of desertification - one more appropriate for the European situation - is needed in which the role of urban-industrial expansion, tourism and agriculture in relation to the allocation of water resources are seen as significant contributors to the problem. Inadequate land use practises (e.g., excessive grazing, fuelwood collection, uncontrolled fires) further contribute to the acceleration of degradation processes which result primarily from complex interactions of plant growth and erosion processes. It is now widely agreed that accelerated water erosion is one of the most important sources of soil degradation; an average yearly soil loss of more than 15 tons/ha was reported by Grenon and Batisse (1989) to occur in more than one third of the Mediterranean basin. This excessive loss of soil, nutrients and seeds from the ecosystem hampers also the regeneration capacity of the vegetation by disrupting plant-water relations, and thus drives a mechanism of sometimes irreversible environmental damage. If erosion is not spectral mixing paradigm or invertible physically-based analytical models, can be used to derive quantitative estimates and improved indicators for land resources and degradation processes.

Albania is country with a rugged landscape (Shqiptar, country of eagles), with plains corresponding to only 1/12 of the whole national surface, mostly located along the coastline. The coastline has a total length of about 380 km, of which 284 km are along the Adriatic Sea, while the rest is facing the Ionian Sea. The last population census (1990) indicates that the workforce is 44% of the population (3 256 000 inhabitants), mainly employed by the state (63%) with the rest of the workers organised in cooperatives or working in agriculture. Agriculture was traditionally one of the main economical activities, able to satisfy 93% of the national demand; it has been declining from the late 1980s onwards, due to migration of farmers towards the main towns, abandoning traditional agricultural practices.

The paper shows how satellite data can be used to analyse snow coverage in mountainous areas and to use satellite data to drive models of snow melt processes. Snow melt models are mostly based on a degree-day-factor approach which is taken to parameterise energy uptake of the snow cover for melting. Another approach are physically based models with a complete description of the radiation and heat exchange between the snow cover and the boundary layer of the atmosphere including the effects which are related to topography (altitude, slope and aspect) and land cover. An examples of snow coverage classification using a degree-days-approach is given from the Swiss Alps. The analysis of the spatially distributed net radiation as the driving energetic factor of snow melt processes by using satellite data of various sensors (NOAA-AVHRR and LandSat-TM) is documented from a catchment area of the arctic archipelago of Spitsbergen.

It is estimated that there are over 60 million land mines located in approximately sixty countries no longer involved in wars. These land mines are the cause of up to 25 000 deaths or injuries per year. The majority of victims are civilians working their lands or children playing. Currently there are many governmental, military, and non-profit organisations working to improve the land mine problem. These organisations usually work independently in addressing mine awareness and education, mine removal, and victim relief and assistance in affected countries.

In 1996 the Mine Action Information Centre (MAIC) was founded at James Madison University (JMU) in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The Centre for Geographic Information Science (CGIS) at JMU supports the MAIC with a team of faculty, staff and advanced students.

During the past three years the GIS team has 1) developed customised Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for specific needs of humanitarian demining organisations and operators, 2) evaluated GIS software for a Humanitarian Demining Support System, and 3) hosted an international conference on mapping and GIS for humanitarian demining.

Currently the CGIS is focusing on plans for a clearinghouse for humanitarian demining spatial data. The database clearinghouse will enable the demining community to access information about spatial data sources over the World Wide Web and will provide digital maps.

In developing countries animal-based transportation is one form of non-motorised transport that may be critical to the local and national economy. The paper will address how remote sensing systems can be used to evaluate remote areas for improvements that will allow free movement of people and materials. Transportation infrastructures such as roads and bridges are easily distinguished in both air photography and satellite imaging. Pavements such as asphalt retain heat and are also easy to see in thermal imaging. Unpaved roads are not as easily detected but they can be found using high resolution systems. This paper is limited to a discussion of roads and related structures and will not address the infrastructure of other forms of transport.

Animal-based transportation is important in the economies of developing countries. The roads these non-motorised vehicles travel on either are unimproved or have been built exclusively for motor vehicles. This paper will address the needs of animal-drawn transport and how these requirements can be included in road planning. Safety issues such as the causes of runaways and a structure to control this situation will be described. Evaluation of the road user population and a method of conducting a road census will be presented.

The Paper shows that Information Technology (IT) is the driving force of a large part of current developments both in industrialised countries and in the developing world. Transfer of know-how and experiences is essential.

Transfer through technical co-operation has to be done with consideration of the target environment, i.e. the conditions in which the technology shall be applied: The technology has to be transferred in an appropriate context in order to fit to the available resources and needs, and thus to be sustainable.

With a successful IT transfer, developing countries can participate at the benefits of IT, can create jobs, increase the prosperity and through use and access to knowledge and information can improve the efficiency and transparency of their political systems.