Remote Sensing and Geomatics Applications for Desertification and Land Degradation Monitoring and Assessment

The combined output of LADAMER should be a comprehensive as well as spatially explicit image of land degradation effects and associated processes for the relevant European Mediterranean countries, in particular for the prototype region of the Iberian Peninsula. It will hence serve as a kind of integrating project between former research approaches and ongoing monitoring and assessment efforts. Consequently, the innovative aspect of LADAMER lies in the novel combination of optical remote sensing methods with advanced physical, ecological and socioeconomic modelling components. Combining these in a surveillance system is expected to substantially improve the quality of land degradation assessment and monitoring at the regional Mediterranean scale. The compiled data base is expected to build a basis for further GMES developments in the domain of land degradation research and other closely connected issues. These aspects will also be further pursued in the Integrated Project DeSurvey which also includes application sites in Northern Africa, Senegal, China and Chile.