Remote Sensing of Terrestrial Ecosystem Structure: An Ecologist’s Pragmatic View

This chapter reviews the scientific concepts involved in the application of remote sensing technology to current and future problems in terrestrial ecology. The approach is pragmatic, being decisively user oriented, and is based on the proposition that currently available technology far exceeds the scientific capability of interpreting and applying it. For most terrestrial ecological problems of current and future concern, data types and volumes are not immediately limiting. Rather it is the understanding of the ecological significance of what has already been acquired that fetters the wider, more constructive use of remote sensing technology.

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