Integrating Earth Observation with Stream Health and Agricultural Activity

Members of the Department of Agriculture, Hellenic Mediterranean University and HL7 Europe (consortium member of OneAquaHealth project)  published a paper on a study that aimed to monitor the health of streams and their adjacent areas using low-cost and rapid techniques. The study combined techniques from topography, geology, geophysics, and remote sensing using GIS for two selected areas in Heraklion, central Crete (Greece). It further obtained a rapid assessment of stream soil and water patterns, created a database of selected parameters, and identified soil variability in agricultural fields. As a result it was established that one area is under pressure only in its coastal part, probably due to urbanisation, while the other area shows normal values and spatial variability for electrical conductivity and magnetic susceptibility. The study suggested that soil variability should be considered in future cropping and environmental management.

The full paper can be downloaded here.