The team from the Remote Sensing Centre at the Institute of Geodesy and Cartography has been featured in an international Success Story published on the Sentinel Online platform. The article highlights the innovative use of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellite data to identify agricultural grassland management practices in Poland and to monitor the intensity of their use.
Research conducted by scientists from the Institute of Geodesy and Cartography demonstrated that combining radar and optical data from the Copernicus programme enables effective differentiation between intensively managed grasslands and extensively used, environmentally valuable habitats. The developed model achieved an accuracy exceeding 80%, opening new opportunities for environmental monitoring, agricultural policy implementation, and biodiversity conservation in Poland.
The Success Story describes research carried out, among other locations, in the Podlaskie and Wielkopolskie regions, where changes in vegetation structure and grassland mowing frequency were analysed using Sentinel satellite data. A key role was played by Sentinel-1 radar imagery, which enables observations regardless of cloud cover, and Sentinel-2 multispectral data, which allows detailed assessment of vegetation condition and composition.
Publication on Sentinel Online is particularly significant because the portal serves as the official information channel of the Copernicus Programme and the European Space Agency (ESA), showcasing the most valuable applications and achievements based on Sentinel satellite data. The inclusion of a Polish research team among international examples of best practice confirms the high quality of Poland’s research in remote sensing and environmental monitoring.
