Satellite Based Wildlife Monitoring

Dear colleagues,

Over the past decade, the use of Earth observation satellites to detect, count and study animals has increased greatly. Improved spatial, spectral, radiometric and temporal resolution has led to studies on many birds and mammals, instigating important breakthroughs and insights for a number key species. These studies have often concentrated on animals in remote locations with high conservation need or over spatial scales too great for the effective use of more traditional techniques. The use of commercial visible very high resolution imagery, with spatial resolution of >1m, has allowed the direct observation of many vertebrates from space, whilst the use of near and short wave infrared has been used to automatically identify environmental indicators in freely available medium-resolution imagery. Challenges to extending the use of this technology have included access to imagery, validation of results, development of automated detection routines and streamlining of the potentially large data volumes needed.

The aim of this Special Issue is to bring together innovative uses and developments in the use of this technology, providing a platform to discuss and disseminate the latest ideas and implementation of satellites to study wildlife from space. Papers on the remote sensing of animals by satellite imagery addressing new insights in the development, application and benefits of the methods and technology are welcome. Articles may include but are not limited to the following topics:

• The application of new sensors and satellites to the field;
• Pilot studies on species not previously imaged by satellite;
• Newly developed counting and detection methodologies;
• Automation of counting or identification using AI and other methods;
• Validation studies;
• Manual counter variance;
• Hyperspectral or super spectral applications;
• Upscaling from pilot studies to regional or temporal studies;
• Crowd sourcing of satellite image counting;
• New findings and overviews resulting from satellite image data. 

The Special Issue will also welcome reviews of the use of the technology in studying specific families and genera such as pinnipeds, whales, seabirds and terrestrial mammals.

Dr. Peter T Fretwell
Guest Editor

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• VHR satellites
• WorldView
• Landsat
• Sentinel2
• Artificial Intelligence
• Animal population ecology
• Convoluted neural networks
• Wildlife monitoring
• Conservation