Assessing degradation across a land-use gradient in the Kruger National Park area using advanced remote sensing modalities

Abstract

Land degradation is regarded as one of the most important environmental issues facing sub-Saharan Africa and is especially relevant in the former communal ‘homeland’ areas of South Africa. Although it has been a topic of intense research, efforts have reached a juncture at which regional modelling and monitoring are constrained by the relatively coarse scale and sensitivity of traditional remote sensing technology as compared to the fine scale at which many processes occur. However, two relatively novel remote sensing approaches, namely imaging spectroscopy (hyperspectral remote sensing) and light detection and ranging (lidar), have the potential to alleviate this constraint. Specifically, the Carnegie Airborne Observatory, a state-of-the-art integrated imaging spectrometer-lidar platform operated by the Carnegie Institution for Science, is being used by South African and international researchers to gain a better understanding of degradation and its impact on rural livelihoods and environmental protection in South Africa