Further Development and Evaluation of Remote Sensing Products for Characterization and Monitoring of Features in Landscapes

Abstract

The European Space Agency's (ESA) Copernicus program has also provided free access to satellite remote sensing data, making it an attractive option for public institutions. Government institutions are currently evaluating and identifying use cases for satellite imagery. Agricultural administration stands to benefit particularly, with the potential uses being substantial, especially in this area. This is primarily driven by two factors: (1) legal requirements within the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and (2) the substantial proportion of agricultural land within the total land cover in a mid-european study area. In the domain of agriculture and environmental discourse, there are a variety of applications for agricultural remote sensing in the context of providing a data base for decision makers within the agricultural administration. This thesis examines three different use cases of agricultural remote sensing from the perspective of public administration. The requirement for accuracy of the data products for administrative use is explicitly addressed. The use cases, which include "overwintering stubble" as an independent land cover class, the reanalysis of the agricultural drought in Saxony in 2018, and the determination of the direction of cultivation of agricultural land, offer insight into the versatility of agricultural administration. The administration's activities are connected with the careful handling of the created geodata products, depending on the data requirements and the uncertainties inherent in the products as a result of the creation process. Government institutions have high accuracy requirements for the products they use to make decisions. In this regard, this thesis examines the factors that influence the informative value of agricultural remote sensing products and proposes possible solutions based on the case studies. This was followed by the general handling of product uncertainties and the possibilities of communicating these in a targeted manner. The objective of this thesis was to assess the potential and limitations of applications by remote sensing data from the point of view of the agricultural administration, based on the three publications that have been published.