Abstract
AbstractWe are in the midst of a revolution in satellite technology, with the rapid development and advancement of small satellites (or SmallSats, i.e., satellites <180 kg). Here, we review the opportunities and challenges that such technology might afford in the field of conservation and ecology. SmallSat constellations may yield higher resolutions than those that are currently available to scientists and practitioners, increasing opportunities to improve environmental‐monitoring and animal‐tracking capabilities. They may cut access costs to end users, by reducing operational costs and bringing increased competition to the existing market. Their greater flexibility and affordability may moreover enable the development of bespoke constellations for specific conservation and ecological applications, and provide greater interoperability with ground‐based sensors, such as tracking devices and camera traps. In addition, SmallSats may serve as cost‐effective research and development platforms for new components and products. Combined, these benefits could significantly improve our ability to monitor threats to the environment as they unfold, while enhancing our understanding of animal ecology and ecosystem dynamics. However, significant hardware and software developments are required before such technology is able to produce, process and handle reliable and cost‐effective data, and the initial research and development costs still represent a major challenge. Further, we argue that much remains to be done to ensure these new data products become accessible, equitable and sustainable.
Highlights
Satellites are a vital tool for ecologists and conservationists to monitor ecosystem structure, composition and functioning (Pettorelli, Laurance, et al, 2014; Pettorelli, Safi, et al, 2014); track human activities and impacts on the natural world (Biermann et al, 2020; Kroodsma et al, 2018); and relay data from instruments deployed on animals (e.g., Barkley et al, 2019; Curnick & Feary, 2020; Doherty et al, 2017)
Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Zoological Society of London
Despite the significant opportunities these small satellites could open to practitioners and scientists, there remains a considerable list of open challenges associated with the use of this technology in ecology and conservation
Summary
Satellites are a vital tool for ecologists and conservationists to monitor ecosystem structure, composition and functioning (Pettorelli, Laurance, et al, 2014; Pettorelli, Safi, et al, 2014); track human activities and impacts on the natural world (Biermann et al, 2020; Kroodsma et al, 2018); and relay data from instruments deployed on animals (e.g., Barkley et al, 2019; Curnick & Feary, 2020; Doherty et al, 2017). Researchers have used drones to obtain higher spatial resolution data (e.g., Koh & Wich, 2012; Wich & Koh, 2018) or motes (a wireless transceiver combined with a sensor) to enhance data recovery from satellite-tagged animals (Jeanniard-du-Dot et al, 2017) Their applications can be limited by power constraints (i.e., battery life); relatively high costs per unit area; and low temporal continuity and geographical availability. A SmallSat constellation targeted on specific water masses (e.g., a marine protected area) with greater spatial resolution could better detect small vessels operating illegally (Kanjir et al, 2016; Lazreg et al, 2018), especially if combined with artificial intelligence (Soldi et al, 2020) These could be further coupled with animal-borne devices detecting IUU (Weimerskirch et al, 2018, 2020), with SmallSats acting as a relay to transmit the data to managers in a timely manner. Such processing could facilitate more rapid responses to illegal fishing events (Greidanus et al, 2017; Kurekin et al, 2019) or illegal logging in protected areas (Lynch et al, 2013; Wyniawskyj et al, 2019)
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