Extensively used grassland is host to a high degree of biodiversity, and performs an important climate protection function as a carbon sink and also serves for fodder and food production. However, these ecosystem services are jeopardized if productivity on these lands is maximized and their use therefore intensified. Until now, data on the condition of the meadows and pastures in Germany have been unavailable for larger areas. In the journal Remote Sensing of Environment, researchers at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ) have now described how satellite data and machine learning methods enable us to assess land-use intensity.
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Source: Phys.org