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Dartmoor National Park Authority

Remote Sensing Pilot Project
LIDAR & CASI Survey
Environment Agency Geomatics
have been working closely with
Dartmoor National Park Authority
and partner organisations Natural
England and South West Water, on
an extensive pilot project to
determine whether remote sensing
and the techniques employed by
Geomatics, can be used to solve a
broad range of environmental and
archaeological mapping problems
across the park.
Dartmoor an upland region of
moorland in Devon covers an area
of approximately 954 square
kilometres, and rises to 621m above
sea level. The Moor was designated
a National Park in 1951. The

Dartmoor National Park Authority

exists to secure for the public good
the conservation, enhancement,
enjoyment and understanding of the
special qualities of Dartmoor, its
landscape, wildlife and cultural
heritage.
Due to the parks size, rough terrain
and sensitivity of much of the
habitat, a monitoring technique that
can be performed quickly, with
minimal direct impact and is easily
repeatable for change analysis,
would be of great benefit to the park
authority and the public at large. The
mapping tasks for assessment
included blanket bog condition
assessment, archaeological

www.geomatics-group.co.uk

prospecting and inventory, historical

mining analysis, moorland and
heathland extent, and hedgerow/field
boundary mapping. In addition, the
project was aiming to demonstrate

Dartmoor NP

how using these technologies would

provide a baseline of invaluable
datasets that are fit for comparison
with future surveys, as well as
showing how to maximise a range
of benefits which can be extracted
from the datasets.
LIDAR and CASI (hyperspectral)
data were used for the tasks in this
pilot study, with Geomatics
surveying approximately 18% of the
National Park (180 km2), capturing
50cm resolution LIDAR data and 1m
resolution CASI data. The survey
was flown in May, as bright
conditions and vegetation growth
are required for CASI data capture,
however leaf coverage would not be
so extensive as to compromise the
LIDAR data.
Our team of analysts and remote
sensing scientists, in close
consultation with Dartmoor National
Parks GIS team, employed a wide
range of techniques to convert the
data from these instruments into
meaningful, real-world mapping
products, using both automated and
semi-automated routines.
This project has proved highly
successful, demonstrating how
hyperspectral and topographic
remote sensing may be used to
provide extremely cost-effective
solutions to a wide range of
environmental monitoring and
mapping problems. With the
airborne approach, a whole suite of
instruments are available, including
hyperspectral and thermal imagers,
high resolution digital cameras (true
colour and NIR) and LIDAR.
New techniques have been
developed, including archaeological
prospecting using sun angle

Blanket Bog Analysis of an area of Dartmoor National Park, using CASI

(hyperspectral imaging) at 1m resolution

animations and automated

hedgerow parameter extraction.
New ways of looking at blanket
bogs have been assessed, which
may in the future feed into peatland
restoration projects.
Environment Agency Geomatics
continue to work closely with
Dartmoor National Park and its
partners to develop these
techniques and provide further
survey support as and when
required. This is a great example of
partnership working with many
organisations involved to support
the vital work of the National Park.

Remote Sensing used for:

Section 3 moor and heath
Blanket bog mapping
Extent broadleaved woodland,
scrubbing up
Erosion and gullying
Archaeological analysis
Field boundary mapping
Unimproved/semi-improved fields
SSSI condition assessment
For more information on this project
and to find out how aerial remote
sensing can benefit environmental
monitoring and land management,
please contact us to arrange a
meeting or tele-conference.

The Environment Agencys Geomatics team is the centre of expertise for remote sensing and data analysis within the Agency. As a specialist
business unit within the Environment Agency, our integrated spatial data products are used to inform environmental decision makers in
government and commercial organisations. Combining cutting edge technology with expert personnel, we work to the highest scientific and ethical
standards to ensure our solutions are of the highest quality and accuracy.

Environment Agency, Rivers House,

Lower Bristol Road, Bath BA2 9ES
Tel +44 (0)1225 487650
www.geomatics-group.co.uk