Earth Observation in service of Ecosystem accounting
The main objective of the PEOPLE (Pioneering Earth Observation Applications for the Environment) Ecosystem Accounting project (PEOPLE-EA) is to study the relevance of Earth observations for SEEA compliant ecosystem accounting and to demonstrate its use for terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems.
PIONEERING THE USE OF EO FOR ECOSYSTEM ACCOUNTING
Objectives
Within PEOPLE-EA, we have 5 specific objectives:
- Review and describe the added value of integrating Earth Observation data for ecosystem accounting in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, expressed in physical terms for ecosystem extent, condition and ecosystem services.
- Co-develop (pioneer and test) innovative high-quality EO-based ecosystem account models according to the FAIR principle following an agile method.
- Showcase and validate a number of selected demonstrators to prove the value of integrating EO in national ecosystem accounting in a regular and consistent manner through the appliance of a cloud-based tool using open standardized interfaces
- Contribute to the international collaborative efforts to advance the use of EO in ecosystem accounting and support countries developing their national ecosystem accounts.
- Prepare a future outlook (R&D roadmap) to further scale-up the use of EO in ecosystem accounting.
Early adopters
The Early Adopters explore the generation of ecosystem accounts using Earth Observation in the following countries:
- Greece, University of Patras (UPATRAS)
- Italy, Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) and Italian National Institute for Environment Protection and Research (ISPRA)
- The Netherlands, Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS)
- Norway, Statistics Norway (SSB)
- Slovakia, Institute of Landscape Ecology (ILE-SAS)