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Bringing an ecological view of change to Landsat‐based remote sensing
Author(s) -
Kennedy Robert E,
Andréfouët Serge,
Cohen Warren B,
Gómez Cristina,
Griffiths Patrick,
Hais Martin,
Healey Sean P,
Helmer Eileen H,
Hostert Patrick,
Lyons Mitchell B,
Meigs Garrett W,
Pflugmacher Dirk,
Phinn Stuart R,
Powell Scott L,
Scarth Peter,
Sen Susmita,
Schroeder Todd A,
Schneider Annemarie,
Sonnenschein Ruth,
Vogelmann James E,
Wulder Michael A,
Zhu Zhe
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
frontiers in ecology and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.918
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1540-9309
pISSN - 1540-9295
DOI - 10.1890/130066
Subject(s) - climate change , perspective (graphical) , remote sensing , temporal scales , environmental change , scale (ratio) , ecology , natural (archaeology) , environmental resource management , ecosystem , global change , computer science , environmental science , geography , cartography , artificial intelligence , archaeology , biology
When characterizing the processes that shape ecosystems, ecologists increasingly use the unique perspective offered by repeat observations of remotely sensed imagery. However, the concept of change embodied in much of the traditional remote‐sensing literature was primarily limited to capturing large or extreme changes occurring in natural systems, omitting many more subtle processes of interest to ecologists. Recent technical advances have led to a fundamental shift toward an ecological view of change. Although this conceptual shift began with coarser‐scale global imagery, it has now reached users of Landsat imagery, since these datasets have temporal and spatial characteristics appropriate to many ecological questions. We argue that this ecologically relevant perspective of change allows the novel characterization of important dynamic processes, including disturbances, long‐term trends, cyclical functions, and feedbacks, and that these improvements are already facilitating our understanding of critical driving forces, such as climate change, ecological interactions, and economic pressures.