Converting developments in the use of satellite radar data to detect deforestation and forest degradation into market products

Sapphire具有监测一系列环境变化的潜力，包括检测森林砍伐和森林退化，使当局能够监测并潜在地减少非法采伐，因此大型组织可以确保他们购买的是可持续的森林产品，林业公司可以评估风暴和火灾造成的损失。因此，我们认为，对低成本，高精度的森林变化检测的需求日益增长，而这一要求没有得到满足。现有的产品依赖于光学卫星数据，而光学卫星数据无法穿透经常覆盖热带亚热带地区的云层，可能会被草和作物（可能像森林一样绿色）混淆，并且无法可靠地检测森林退化，因为光学数据无法穿透森林树冠。相反，我们建议进一步开发一种新的方法来检测森林砍伐和森林退化的基础上免费提供的合成孔径雷达（SAR）数据从欧盟资助的哨兵-1卫星系列。这一"开拓者"将对从时间序列卫星雷达数据得出的毁林和森林退化数据的市场进行评价和量化。主要受益者将包括国际政府、森林和碳服务经销商、林业公司、生物经济、私营企业和国际监管机构以及非政府组织。项目完成后，这些用户的主要利益将是国家政府和一些商业实体，他们认识到森林在地球系统中的重要作用，并希望看到可持续的木材开采保持社会效益。如果技术开发成功，那么该产品的广泛使用将在打击非法砍伐森林方面发挥重要作用，非法砍伐森林造成约20%的人为温室气体排放，是物种灭绝和生态系统服务损失的主要驱动力。我们的方法用于分析C波段SAR的算法代表了一种新的创新技术。

Satellites have the potential to monitor a range of environmental changes, including detecting deforestation and forest degradation to enable the authorities to monitor and potentially reduce illegal logging, so large organisations can ensure they are purchasing sustainable forest products, and so forestry companies can assess damage from storms and fires.We believe therefore that there is a growing demand for low-cost, high accuracy detection of forest change, and that this demand is not being met. Existing products rely on optical satellite data , which cannot see through the clouds that frequently blanket tropical subtropical zones, can be confused by grass and crops (which can be as green as forests), and cannot reliably detect forest degradation as optical data cannot see through a forest canopy. Instead we propose to further develop a new methodology for detecting deforestation and forest degradation based on freely available Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data from the EU-funded Sentinel-1 satellite series. This Pathfinder will evaluate and quantify the market for deforestation and forest degradation data derived form time series satellite radar data. The main beneficiaries will include international governments, forest and carbon services resellers, forestry companies, the bio economy, private industry and international regulators and NGOs. Key benefits to these users on completion of the project will be national governments and some commercial entities who recognise the important role of forests in the earth system and want to see sustainable timber extraction maintained for societal benefit. If the technological development is successful then the widespread use of this product could play a major part in the fight against illegal deforestation, which is responsible for ~20% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and a major driver of species extinctions and the loss of ecosystem services. The algorithm our method uses for analysing C-band SAR represents a new and innovative technology.