Periodic Reporting for period 1 - OBSGESSION (OBSERVATION OF ECOSYSTEM CHANGES FOR ACTION)
Berichtszeitraum: 2024-01-01 bis 2025-06-30
Biodiversity loss remains one of the most urgent global challenges, threatening ecosystem resilience, human well-being, and the achievement of the European Green Deal objectives. Despite ambitious aims to improve the monitoring of ecosystem condition and biodiversity in Europe, significant challenges persist – including gaps in harmonized data, limited integration of multi-source observations (particularly remote sensing and in situ data) and insufficient capacity to deliver timely, policy-relevant evidence on the state of biodiversity and ecosystem services. More robust, scalable observation systems and harmonized biodiversity monitoring measures, such as Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs), are essential to meeting EU and international biodiversity commitments, including the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the Nature Restoration Law, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
OBSGESSION (Observation of Ecosystem Changes for Action) addresses these challenges by creating innovative workflows that integrate in-situ monitoring, remote sensing, citizen science, and modelling. The project brings together remote sensing and biodiversity experts, various data infrastructures, and policy stakeholders to co-design approaches that can strengthen biodiversity monitoring and assessment across multiple scales.
The overall objective and key ambition of OBSGESSION is to monitor and predict biodiversity change and its direct and indirect drivers in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems through the integration of state-of-the-art multi-sensor Earth Observation (EO) data, innovative in-situ (including citizen science) data, and products, together with next-generation ecological models that account for uncertainty. To achieve this, the project is structured around five interlinked specific objectives that together form the foundation for delivering measurable impacts:
1) Identify policy needs and scientific gaps;
2) Develop and integrate EBV-enabling EO and in-situ data streams;
3) Build frameworks for detection, attribution and modelling of biodiversity change;
4) Assess and propagate uncertainty to decision-support systems; and
5) Validate approaches in pilot areas and foster science–policy integration
OBSGESSION (Observation of Ecosystem Changes for Action) addresses these challenges by creating innovative workflows that integrate in-situ monitoring, remote sensing, citizen science, and modelling. The project brings together remote sensing and biodiversity experts, various data infrastructures, and policy stakeholders to co-design approaches that can strengthen biodiversity monitoring and assessment across multiple scales.
The overall objective and key ambition of OBSGESSION is to monitor and predict biodiversity change and its direct and indirect drivers in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems through the integration of state-of-the-art multi-sensor Earth Observation (EO) data, innovative in-situ (including citizen science) data, and products, together with next-generation ecological models that account for uncertainty. To achieve this, the project is structured around five interlinked specific objectives that together form the foundation for delivering measurable impacts:
1) Identify policy needs and scientific gaps;
2) Develop and integrate EBV-enabling EO and in-situ data streams;
3) Build frameworks for detection, attribution and modelling of biodiversity change;
4) Assess and propagate uncertainty to decision-support systems; and
5) Validate approaches in pilot areas and foster science–policy integration
The reporting period covers months 1-18, with the entire length of the project spanning 48 months. During the reporting period, OBSGESSION has advanced the technical and scientific foundations of multi-scale biodiversity observation in several key areas:
Conceptual and methodological frameworks: The project refined the definition of EBV-enabling EO and in-situ data products, remote sensing (RS) generated EBVs, and RS derived Biodiversity Products as key terms used throughout the project, and necessary for the operationalization of selected EBVs, focusing on ecosystem structure, distribution and functioning, as well as species populations. Standardized workflows were co-designed to ensure comparability of observation systems across regions and realms to be demonstrated in pilots.
Integration of observation data: Different datasets have been collected and pre-processed, including long series of multi-spectral sentinel-1/-2 EO data for all pilot test sites at the sub-continental level. To develop algorithms for developing EBV-enabling products, 21 data products describing ecosystem structure and 2 algorithms to generate a selection of these products have been tested and benchmarked. Preliminary work in combining in-situ data (from research infrastructures, monitoring networks, and citizen science) with EO and remote sensing data has started. This included advances in using Copernicus and ESA satellite products to detect ecosystem dynamics and habitat condition.
Modelling and upscaling methods: The biodiversity change detection, attribution, and modelling (DAM) framework was developed. The developed framework establishes the concepts and guidelines relevant for the project for standardized attribution analyses of detected changes across Europe. Ongoing studies rely on the framework's suggested methodological structure to design models at the regional to national level before scaling up attribution to Europe. Data integration and machine learning approaches were applied to improve the accuracy of ecosystem assessments, for instance, mapping of the occurrence of EUNIS habitats.
Pilot demonstrations: Case studies across representative socio-ecological regions (e.g. Alpine and temperate forest and freshwater ecosystems) were initiated to test workflows in real-world conditions. These pilots demonstrated how integrated EBV-based monitoring can take into consideration various direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity change and inform conservation actions and restoration planning.
Data infrastructures and interoperability: OBSGESSION partners have enhanced digital platforms to ensure long-term accessibility of biodiversity data, aligned with FAIR principles. A data platform ecosystem, consisting of a combination of existing, widely used platforms and tools, has been designed to ensure optimal accessibility and findability of data cubes for project-internal and -external use. Progress was made towards establishing interoperability with existing infrastructures such as GBIF, EOSC, and European environmental data services.
Conceptual and methodological frameworks: The project refined the definition of EBV-enabling EO and in-situ data products, remote sensing (RS) generated EBVs, and RS derived Biodiversity Products as key terms used throughout the project, and necessary for the operationalization of selected EBVs, focusing on ecosystem structure, distribution and functioning, as well as species populations. Standardized workflows were co-designed to ensure comparability of observation systems across regions and realms to be demonstrated in pilots.
Integration of observation data: Different datasets have been collected and pre-processed, including long series of multi-spectral sentinel-1/-2 EO data for all pilot test sites at the sub-continental level. To develop algorithms for developing EBV-enabling products, 21 data products describing ecosystem structure and 2 algorithms to generate a selection of these products have been tested and benchmarked. Preliminary work in combining in-situ data (from research infrastructures, monitoring networks, and citizen science) with EO and remote sensing data has started. This included advances in using Copernicus and ESA satellite products to detect ecosystem dynamics and habitat condition.
Modelling and upscaling methods: The biodiversity change detection, attribution, and modelling (DAM) framework was developed. The developed framework establishes the concepts and guidelines relevant for the project for standardized attribution analyses of detected changes across Europe. Ongoing studies rely on the framework's suggested methodological structure to design models at the regional to national level before scaling up attribution to Europe. Data integration and machine learning approaches were applied to improve the accuracy of ecosystem assessments, for instance, mapping of the occurrence of EUNIS habitats.
Pilot demonstrations: Case studies across representative socio-ecological regions (e.g. Alpine and temperate forest and freshwater ecosystems) were initiated to test workflows in real-world conditions. These pilots demonstrated how integrated EBV-based monitoring can take into consideration various direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity change and inform conservation actions and restoration planning.
Data infrastructures and interoperability: OBSGESSION partners have enhanced digital platforms to ensure long-term accessibility of biodiversity data, aligned with FAIR principles. A data platform ecosystem, consisting of a combination of existing, widely used platforms and tools, has been designed to ensure optimal accessibility and findability of data cubes for project-internal and -external use. Progress was made towards establishing interoperability with existing infrastructures such as GBIF, EOSC, and European environmental data services.
OBSGESSION goes beyond the state of the art by establishing fully integrated, multi-scale monitoring workflows that link remote sensing and in-situ observations, and modelling in a policy-relevant framework. While existing monitoring efforts are often fragmented or sector-specific, OBSGESSION demonstrates how RS generated EBV-enabling products can provide consistent, scalable, and comparable biodiversity indicators across Europe.
OBSGESSION delivers results that are directly relevant to European and international policy frameworks. The project supports the evidence-based implementation of the EU Nature Restoration Law and the Biodiversity Strategy’s target of restoring 30% of degraded ecosystems by providing tools that guide the prioritization of actions and enable the tracking of implementation and progress. Furthermore, alignment with initiatives such as Biodiversa+, EuropaBON, and the ESA FutureEO programme ensures complementarity and long-term sustainability.
In terms of impact, OBSGESSION will strengthen Europe’s scientific and technical capacity to assess changes to biodiversity and ecosystem condition, as well as to assess the underlying drivers of biodiversity change.
OBSGESSION delivers results that are directly relevant to European and international policy frameworks. The project supports the evidence-based implementation of the EU Nature Restoration Law and the Biodiversity Strategy’s target of restoring 30% of degraded ecosystems by providing tools that guide the prioritization of actions and enable the tracking of implementation and progress. Furthermore, alignment with initiatives such as Biodiversa+, EuropaBON, and the ESA FutureEO programme ensures complementarity and long-term sustainability.
In terms of impact, OBSGESSION will strengthen Europe’s scientific and technical capacity to assess changes to biodiversity and ecosystem condition, as well as to assess the underlying drivers of biodiversity change.