Remote Sensing of Agroecosystems: The Potential of Earth Observation to Monitor and Support Agricultural Management Decisions

Kurzfassung

Agroecosystems play a crucial role in global sustainability challenges, providing food, employment, and ecosystem services while contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and carbon storage. Monitoring their dynamics is therefore essential to balance productivity, environmental protection, and climate mitigation. Earth Observation (EO) offers unique opportunities to observe agricultural systems consistently across space and time, enabling a deeper understanding of management practices and their impacts. This presentation highlights the potential of EO data to monitor and support agricultural management decisions. Examples from Germany and West Africa demonstrate how satellite data from different sensors can be combined to map crop types, detect mowing events and frequencies, and identify landscape elements such as hedgerows—key indicators for biodiversity and agri-environmental reporting. In West Africa, EO-based approaches are used to address the dual challenges of climate change and food security by monitoring rice cropping systems and identifying sustainable intensification and adaptation practices. These approaches support decision-makers, local authorities, and governments in enhancing sustainable agriculture and bridging gaps between relevant stakeholders.