Biodiversity and habitat

Biodiversity and habitat assessment uses EO-derived habitat extent, ecosystem structure, vegetation-community proxies, and Essential Biodiversity Variable supporting indicators, while most species are not counted directly from orbit.^[1][2]

Relevant modalities include imaging spectroscopy for vegetation composition, LiDAR for canopy height and vertical structure, SAR for forest structure proxies, and multispectral indices for habitat condition.^[2][3]

Habitat extent and structure indicators are operational, while species-level biodiversity inference remains model-mediated.^[1][2]

Hyperspectral classification supports vegetation-community and habitat-trait mapping from surface reflectance, and spaceborne LiDAR measures canopy height and vertical structure as habitat-complexity indicators.^[2][3]

Polarimetric SAR retrieves scattering structure related to forest volume and habitat structure under cloud, vegetation indices map condition and phenology as broad habitat-quality proxies, and optical-SAR fusion combines spectral and structural signals for habitat classification in cloudy regions.^[2][3]