As more advanced monitoring technologies are beginning to make their way into various industries such as agriculture, researchers and ecologists are faced with a new challenge that requires monitoring ecological conditions of nature reserve areas which cover vast distances.

Nature reserve areas in the European Union for example, cover almost one fifth of the region, according to a report, making it very difficult to inspect and monitor.

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A team of scientists from the Vienna University of Technology in Austria has approached this challenge by developing a new method that uses aircraft equipped with laser technology and computer algorithms.

The method involves sending laser pulses from above to the ground and retrieving three-dimensional (3D) data maps using computer algorithms and software.

"This can only be achieved with the help of remote sensing." said Norbert Pfeifer, a professor at the university.

"Our team has developed special classification software which can use this data to distinguish different types of vegetation," Pfeifer added.

The 3D map will contain detailed information about the surface vegetation including the lower layers.

"When people process remote sensing data for ecological monitoring, they usually focus on very specific parameters which are easy to derive," said Pfeifer.

"Our approach is quite different. We use the data to calculate precisely the same parameters as they are collected in a site inspection by human ecologists."

"This study is a major step forward in closing the gap between the remote sensing and conservation ecology communities," said András Zlinszky, from the Centre for Ecological Research in Hungary.

"We have shown that it is possible to monitor Natura 2000 conservation status by remote sensing, exactly following the rules laid out by the local ecology experts."

TagsVienna University of Technology, Austria, laser technology, computer algorithm, Centre for Ecological Research, hungary, Nature Reserve Area, EU