Innovative Technologies for Terrestrial Earth Observation

描述和监测森林、沙漠和城市等陆地或陆地表面特征是地球观测(EO)的基本和持续目标。EO图像和相关技术对于了解碳捕获等环境过程和管理热带雨林等环境资源至关重要，特别是在大片区域或整个全球。这种对地表某些性质的测量或观察是广泛的科学调查和工业运作的核心，涉及来自许多不同背景和学科的个人和组织。然而，这一观察陆地的过程为这些调查提供了一个统一的主题，而且在实践中，用于观察的工具以及用于绘制环境主题地图和建立模型的技术有很大的一致性。因此，在陆地地球观测组织的许多不同成员之间交流技术知识和经验有很大的潜在好处。该专题组的目的是交流知识，促进了解、开发和采用用于陆地表面环境观测的最先进技术。这将包括考虑从平台和传感器开发到图像检索和分析、环境建模和专题应用的所有地面地球观测作业。“陆地”的重点是刻意广泛的，以确保整个社区的广泛相关性和参与性，包括研究和行业。然而，为了保证具体的技术进步和成就，将确定优先领域或主题进行详细调查。虽然这些主题最终将通过与EO社区的协商来确定，但未来的主题包括自主飞行器在陆地观测中的操作、开发新的土地分类方法以及将EO应用于泥炭地等受威胁的环境。协商进程确保集群的活动受到社区利益的指导，并有效地代表社区的利益。这些主题将相互密切沟通，以确保知识的交流和对总的分组目标的贡献。分组活动将包括开发各种联网机制，将对地面地球观测技术感兴趣的所有各方聚集在一起。中心将是一个互动网站，在那里将定期发布新闻和更新，参与者可以共享资源。将举办各种多国活动，包括第一年的科学讲习班和商业演示，以及第二年将在国家空间中心举行的一次重要会议和小玩意展。多国办事处的活动将产生一系列科学、技术和普遍感兴趣的出版物。将用练习册和摘要小册子支持主题活动，并鼓励主题协调员组织期刊特刊。编辑后的《未来地球观测技术》也将出版，概述最先进的技术并标志着未来的发展。为了确保整个陆地EO社区的利益，该集群将由一个代表广泛利益的财团组织。该联盟的核心是三个伞形机构，涵盖研究和高等教育(遥感和摄影测量学会)、工业(英国遥感公司协会)和自然环境研究理事会(国家地球观测中心)现有的地球观测活动。这些机构总共代表了数百个组织以及数千名EO技术的研究人员、开发人员和用户。研究人员将从发展战略合作中受益，NERC将从技术政策指导中受益，商业组织将从用户反馈中受益。

Characterising and monitoring terrestrial or land surface features like forests, deserts and cities are fundamental and continuing goals of Earth Observation (EO). EO imagery and related technology is essential to understand environmental processes like carbon capture and manage environmental resources like tropical forests, particularly over large areas or the entire globe. This measurement or observation of some property of the land surface is central to a wide range of scientific investigations and industrial operations, involving individuals and organisations from many different backgrounds and disciplines. However, this process of observing the land provides a unifying theme for these investigations, and in practice there is much consistency in the instruments used for observation and the techniques used to map and model the environmental subject. There is therefore great potential benefit in exchanging technological knowledge and experience among the many and diverse members of the terrestrial EO community. The aim of the cluster is to exchange knowledge and facilitate understanding, development and uptake of state-of-the-art technology used in EO of the land surface. This will include consideration of the full range of terrestrial EO operation, from platform and sensor development, to image retrieval and analysis, environmental modelling and thematic application. The 'terrestrial' focus is deliberately broad to ensure wide relevance across and engagement from the whole community, involving both research and industry. However, to guarantee specific technological advancement and achievement, priority areas or themes will be identified for detailed investigation. While these themes will be determined ultimately through consultation with the EO community, prospective themes include the operation of autonomous aerial vehicles in land observation, development of novel land classification approaches and application of EO to threatened environments such as peatlands. The consultative process ensures the cluster's activities are guided by and effectively represent the community's interests. The themes will operate in close communication with each other to ensure cross-fertilisation of knowledge and contribution to overall cluster goals. Cluster activities will include the development of various networking mechanisms to bring together all parties interested in terrestrial EO technology. Central to this will be an interactive website, where news and updates will be posted regularly and participants can share resources. Various cluster events will be held, including scientific workshops and commercial demonstrations in the first year, and a major conference and gadget show in the second year to be held at the National Space Centre. Cluster activities will yield a range of scientific, technical and general interest publications. Theme events will be supported with workbooks and abstract booklets, and theme coordinators will be encouraged to organise journal special issues. An edited volume will also be published on Future Terrestrial Earth Observation Technology to outline state-of-the-art technology and signpost future development. To guarantee benefits across the whole terrestrial EO community, the cluster will be organised by a consortium representing a wide range of interests. At the heart of this consortium are three umbrella bodies covering research and higher education (the Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society), industry (the British Association of Remote Sensing Companies) and existing EO activities at the Natural Environment Research Council (the National Centre for Earth Observation). Together, these bodies represent hundreds of organisations and thousands of researchers, developers and users of EO technology. Researchers will benefit through the development of strategic collaborations, NERC will benefit through guidance on technology policy and commercial organisations will benefit through user feedback.