Sensing the planet

Advances in satellite technology have enabled the British Antarctic Survey and other international groups to find, count and monitor Polar wildlife from space. Here, we showcase their work. Species targeted with satellite imagery include penguins, seals, whales and polar bears. In some cases, such as the emperor penguin, this work has revolutionised our knowledge of the species. We highlight advances in satellite technology, some useful techniques, and discuss the implications for conservation.

The UK is unusual in having good bird and habitat monitoring, mainly from volunteers in boots in the field. But these boots don’t answer all our questions, and there are fewer boots on the ground in most of the rest of the world. Consequently, we need other methods to inform on conservation priorities and strategies. I’ll discuss the present and future of remote sensing for conservation monitoring, illustrated with global examples from the RSPB and BirdLife International.

Volcanic eruptions emit prodigious quantities of volatiles into the atmosphere. In our geological past, some eruptions have lasted for millions of years, causing dramatic environmental degradation and even mass extinctions. Today, explosive eruptions cause perturbations to global climate due to the effects of sulfate aerosols on the Earth’s radiation budget. I will discuss the scale of impacts caused by volcanic eruptions, how we can reconstruct it and why we should care about it.