@article{Sánchez-Espinosa2019b,

title = {Land use and land cover mapping in wetlands one step closer to the ground: Sentinel-2 versus Landsat 8},

author = {A. Sánchez-Espinosa and C. Schröder},

url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479719308850},

doi = {10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.06.084},

year  = {2019},

date = {2019-10-01},

journal = {Journal of Environmental Management},

volume = {247},

pages = {484-498},

abstract = {Environmental studies with Landsat images have revealed many of the problems faced by wetland ecosystem, which are crucial for the conservation of biodiversity and the natural values of our planet. The study of LULC changes in wetlands through remote sensing constantly helps to identify and combat their main environmental threats improving the conservation of these natural habitats. Starting in mid-2015, the Sentinel-2 satellite opens new possibilities in the field of earth observation thanks to its higher spatial, spectral and temporal resolution becoming a powerful source of information for LULC monitoring in wetland areas. However, researchers may ask them selves to what extent Sentinel-2 is an improvement over Landsat 8 for general purposes. This research test if there is a real difference in the quality of the results delivered by both Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8 imagery when basic classification methods are applied.



The study uses Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8 imagery to produce LULC maps in a Mediterranean wetland area applying an object based classification method in order to compare the accuracy and reliability in the surface detected by both satellites. The results show that an object based classification using only the Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8 image information, without band indexes or ancillary data, offers very similar results for most LULC classes, being the overall accuracy around 87–88% with slightly better results when using Sentinel-2. Although using Sentinel-2 leads to an increase in file size and processing times, the analysis of certain LULC classes presents an improvement compared to Landsat 8, detecting more linear and small size elements with a better delineation of image features in the classified map. However, these improvements should not underestimate the value of Landsat imagery in the future since both satellites provide high precision information, so they can and should coexist and be used together to increase data availability in order to have the best possible results in remote sensing research.},

keywords = {Geotechnology, Land and soil, SWOS, Wetlands},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Aksoy2017c,

title = {Assessing soil biodiversity potentials in Europe},

author = {E. Aksoy and G. Louwagie and C. Gardi and M. Gregor and C. Schröder and M. Löhnertz},

url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969717304229},

doi = {10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.02.173},

year  = {2017},

date = {2017-07-01},

journal = {Science of The Total Environment},

volume = {589},

pages = {236-249},

abstract = {Soil is important as a critical component for the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. The largest part of the terrestrial biodiversity relies, directly or indirectly, on soil. Furthermore, soil itself is habitat to a great diversity of organisms. The suitability of soil to host such a diversity is strongly related to its physico-chemical features and environmental properties. However, due to the complexity of both soil and biodiversity, it is difficult to identify a clear and unambiguous relationship between environmental parameters and soil biota. Nevertheless, the increasing diffusion of a more integrated view of ecosystems, and in particular the development of the concept of ecosystem services, highlights the need for a better comprehension of the role played by soils in offering these services, including the habitat provision. An assessment of the capability of soils to host biodiversity would contribute to evaluate the quality of soils in order to help policy makers with the development of appropriate and sustainable management actions. However, so far, the heterogeneity of soils has been a barrier to the production of a large-scale framework that directly links soil features to organisms living within it. The current knowledge on the effects of soil physico-chemical properties on biota and the available data at continental scale open the way towards such an evaluation. In this study, the soil habitat potential for biodiversity was assessed and mapped for the first time throughout Europe by combining several soil features (pH, soil texture and soil organic matter) with environmental parameters (potential evapotranspiration, average temperature, soil biomass productivity and land use type). Considering the increasingly recognized importance of soils and their biodiversity in providing ecosystem services, the proposed approach appears to be a promising tool that may contribute to open a forum on the need to include soils in future environmental policy making decisions.},

keywords = {Biodiversity, Conservation and management, Land and soil, Soil functions},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{Aksoy2017c,

title = {Assessing and analysing the impact of land take pressures on arable land},

author = {E. Aksoy and M. Gregor and C. Schröder and M. Löhnertz and G. Louwagie},

url = {https://www.solid-earth.net/8/683/2017/},

year  = {2017},

date = {2017-06-20},

journal = {Solid Earth},

number = {8},

pages = {683-695},

abstract = {Land, and in particular soil, is a finite and essentially non-renewable resource. Across the European Union, land take, i.e. the increase of settlement area over time, annually consumes more than 1000 km2 of which half is actually sealed and hence lost under impermeable surfaces. Land take, and in particular soil sealing, has already been identified as one of the major soil threats in the 2006 European Commission Communication Towards a Thematic Strategy on Soil Protection and the Soil Thematic Strategy and has been confirmed as such in the report on the implementation of this strategy. The aim of this study is to relate the potential of land for a particular use in a given region with the actual land use. This allows evaluating whether land (especially the soil dimension) is used according to its (theoretical) potential. To this aim, the impact of several land cover flows related to urban development on soils with good, average, and poor production potentials were assessed and mapped. Thus, the amount and quality (potential for agricultural production) of arable land lost between the years 2000 and 2006 was identified. In addition, areas with high productivity potential around urban areas, indicating areas of potential future land use conflicts for Europe, were identified.},

keywords = {Land and soil, Pressures},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}