Research on Upland Burn Monitoring Using Sentinel 1 and Sentinel 2 Data

About

Defra Network eTendering Portal awarded a contract to Environment Systems Ltd for research to investigate the ability to monitor abrupt structural vegetation change in UK upland environments by combining Sentinel 1 and Sentinel 2 derived data.

The work aims to understand and monitor the impact of changes, especially managed burning and wildfires, to support policy development relating to protected sites, Net Zero, the 25 Year Environment Plan, and the England Peat Action Plan.

The research will help Natural England and Defra meet requirements to understand change in management on moorland with peat soils in response to regulatory changes and policy initiatives.

Using remotely sensed data will allow a national picture of change to be developed with improved spatial and temporal detail, informing the scale, distribution, and frequency of change activities; compliance with regulation and behaviour change; damage caused by wildfires to habitats and wildlife on protected sites and areas of deep peat; and good land management practices to reduce the likelihood or impact of wildfires.

The contract value is AUD 27,400.