Rubrika: Blog
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The 3D structure of vegetation and terrain in Europe is now almost completely mapped by airborne laser scanning
Author: Vítězslav Moudrý Understanding the three-dimensional structure of vegetation and terrain is fundamental for explaining how terrestrial ecosystems function, for assessing biodiversity, and for designing effective environmental policies. One of the most powerful remote sensing technologies for capturing this structure is airborne laser scanning (lidar). At the same time, lidar is a relatively expensive technology,…
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FathomDEM raises the bar for the accuracy of global 30 m DEMs to new heights
Author: Petr Bašta Digital elevation models (DEMs) constitute fundamental data for various governmental, scientific, and commercial activities, serving a wide range of purposes in environmental sciences. The availability of global DEMs (GDEMs) has been improved considerably, especially in the past few years, which have been prolific in terms of the number of newly available bare-earth…
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Improving Canopy Height Models in Temperate Regions: The Key to Accurate Forest Monitoring
Author: Vojtěch Barták Canopy height is one of the most important characteristics of forest structure. It is closely linked to stored biomass, forest productivity, and biodiversity. As we face increasing pressure from climate change and environmental degradation, consistent global monitoring of forest canopy height is crucial for understanding the state of our ecosystems and making…
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How to Cool Down Urban Heat
Author: David Moravec Cities are getting hotter. As concrete, asphalt, and dense apartment blocks increasingly replace natural areas, urban areas often heat up significantly more than surrounding rural zones in hot weather. This phenomenon — known as the “urban heat island” — isn’t just about discomfort: it can affect public health, energy demand, and overall…
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Novel Method for Correcting Observer-Specific Bias in Species Distribution Models
Author: Petr Balej The prediction accuracy of Species Distribution Models (SDMs) is often compromised by sampling bias in species occurrence records. This issue is widespread in collaborative databases like the worldwide GBIF, iNaturalist, and the local Czech Species Occurrence Database. These platforms are filled with opportunistic species records of various quality collected by both expert…
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Mammal Monitoring and Forest Damage Modelling in Agricultural Landscapes, Guest Lecture
Author: Jan Komárek During the final EarthBridge project meeting, Stephanie Roilo from the University of Bonn, Agro-ecological Modeling Group under the leadership of Prof. Anna Cord, joined the event and stayed for several days on a scientific visit. During her stay, she delivered two engaging research lectures that combined scientific rigour with a touch of…
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Towards 90 m Resolution Digital Terrain Models from Spaceborne Lidar: Balancing Accuracy and Sampling Intensity
Author: Petra Pracná Mapping the Earth’s terrain beneath forests and across rugged mountains has always been a challenge. Traditional lidar surveys can achieve high accuracy but are limited in spatial coverage and costly to repeat. With the launch of NASA’s ICESat-2 (Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2) and GEDI (Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation) missions, we…
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Mining palimpsest: Distinguishing between prehistoric and modern mining using remote sensing methods, field survey and MaxEnt
Author: Jan Fišer The history of the use of certain raw materials goes back thousands of years. This is also the case for the quartzite deposits at Písečný vrch near Most, Czech Republic. While in prehistoric times raw material was used to make stone tools, several thousand years later – in the 20th century –…
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Flying Higher for Forest Insights: Accuracy and Limits of Drone-Based Tree Height Estimation
Author: Komárek J., Rous J., Klouček T. (2025). The bigger, the better? Sample size effects in drone-estimated forest height. Journal of Forestry Research. In press. Forests are central to the Earth system. They harbour biodiversity, regulate water and nutrient cycles, protect soil, and store vast amounts of carbon. Their structure is a key parameter shaping…
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Restoration of post-mining landscapes from above
Author: Lucie Moudrá As coal mining sites across Europe are gradually retired, a unique opportunity is emerging to return these landscapes to nature. But how do we know if restoration efforts are truly successful? Our new study highlights how airborne remote sensing, specifically lidar and hyperspectral data, can help monitor ecological restoration by capturing habitat…