CEOS Land Product Validation (LPV) Aboveground Biomass Protocol
March 2021
The biomass focus area within the CEOS Working Group on Calibration & Validation (WGCV) Land Product Validation (LPV) Subgroup has developed an Aboveground Woody Biomass Validation Good Practices Protocol after years of development of the document within their community. This Protocol document (V1.0) has undergone extensive review by remote sensing experts from around the globe. It represents the current state of knowledge of biomass remote sensing and ground survey and includes a summary of current knowledge and data gaps toward an operational validation of satellite products at the global scale.
This document is published in advance of many forthcoming biomass products expected from a new generation of lidar and SAR satellite sensors (e.g. NASA’s GEDI, NASA-ISRO’s NISAR, ESA’s BIOMASS) and will evolve as we learn from the development and validation of these products.
We welcome experts to participate in the ongoing improvement of this document and invite the broader community to make use of it for their research and applications related to woody biomass products derived from satellite data. All contributors will be recognized as such in the document and on the CEOS WGCV LPV website.
2021-2023 CEOS Work Plan
March 2021
CEOS Newsletter #56
February 2021
The semi-annual CEOS Newsletter provides updates and summaries of all the great work CEOS is doing throughout the year.
CEOS LPV Soil Moisture Validation Protocol
December 2020
The LPV soil moisture focus area provides the community involved in the production and validation of satellite-based soil moisture products with a forum for documenting accepted good practices in an open and transparent manner that is scientifically defensible. This Global Soil Moisture Product Validation Good Practices Protocol document (V1.0) underwent scientific review by remote sensing experts from across the globe.
This protocol document and its recommendations are expected to undergo subsequent iterations based on community feedback and scientific advancement. We welcome all interested experts to participate in improving this document and invite the broader community to make use of it for their research and applications related to soil moisture products derived from Earth Observation data. All contributors are recognized as such in the document and on the CEOS WGCV LPV website.
The Editors would like to dedicate this document to the memory of Dr. Alexander Löw (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich) who was serving as the Soil Moisture focus area Co-Lead at the onset of the development of this draft. His enthusiasm and cooperative spirit served as an example for all of us in the development of this Good Practices Protocol. Alex Löw will be remembered as an excellent and enthusiastic scientist and wonderful colleague to all who had the pleasure to work with him.
2020-2022 CEOS Work Plan
August 2020
CEOS Newsletter #55
August 2020
White Paper: Satellite Mapping in Response to the 2016 7.8 Magnitude Earthquake in Muisne, Ecuador
November 2019
This document describes how satellite Earth Observation (EO) contributed to the response of the 2016 earthquake in Ecuador. It focuses on the available EO disaster response capabilities and how they supported the local disaster management authorities by gathering satellite images and generating satellite-derived maps and reports to identify the extent of the affected area, assess the damage and provide a clearer view about the nature of the event.
Geostationary Satellite Constellation for Observing Global Air Quality: Geophysical Validation Needs
October 2019
This whitepaper elaborates the validation needs and inter-mission consistency targets of the Geo-AQ constellation. This constellation consists of the geostationary atmospheric composition missions GEMS, Sentinel-4, and TEMPO, which provide hourly observations of key air pollutants, and is complemented by low Earth orbiting missions with a strong focus on air quality. Recommendations are made for activities that are needed to address new challenges associated with the geostationary perspective, to assess and establish the consistency of data products, and to enhance the impact of the individual missions as elements of a constellation.
The 2018-2020 CEOS Work Plan
April 2019
CEOS recently updated our new 3-year work plan, covering the period 2019-2021. This CEOS Work Plan describes what we, through the efforts of our 62 Members & Associates, will deliver over the next three years to enhance the availability and use of satellite Earth observations.
A Layman’s Interpretation Guide to L-band and C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar Data
November 2018
This “layman’s” guide was developed to provide users who have little or no experience with spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data with a simple reference document that outlines some basic concepts of radar remote sensing, presents some commonly used SAR datasets, and provides some examples of how a few different land cover types may appear in SAR imagery. This document was developed under funding from the CEOS Systems Engineering Office (SEO).