Ecosystem Restoration and Sustainable Land Practices Using AI, IoT and Remote Sensing Technologies
摘要
Climate-related degradation of land is restricting the capacity of land to support people, and ecosystems are unable to recover from the impact. In recent years, the combination of RS and GIS has become a revolutionary method to identify, monitor, and restore degraded areas with precision, economy, and scale. This chapter discusses the crucial role of such technologies in supporting sustainable management and restoration of land in varied landscapes and ecological settings. Remote sensing tools include satellite-based systems (Landsat, Sentinel, MODIS), LiDAR from aircraft, UAVs and thermal imaging that enable continuous, fine-resolution monitoring of land cover, vegetation health, soil moisture and temperature anomalies. This enables the monitoring of deforestation, desertification, and degradation of the environment in real time. Vegetation indices, such as NDVI and thermal indices, such as Land Surface Temperature LST are used in order to identify—in an early stage—these vulnerable areas. The advantages of using GIS in conjunction with remote sensing include the ability to analyze and visualize ecological factors in multi-layer spaces such as topography, soil quality, water availability, and biodiversity distribution. The data driven land use planning, reforestation, and habitat connectivity initiatives are taken by GIS through techniques like Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE), and flood Harvard mapping, etc. This chapter provides the importance of advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and digital twins—for ecosystem restoration. AI-based decision support systems help to analyze the varying environmental trends, recent agricultural practices, the risk of deforestation, and enable smart reforestation. Digital twin technology and block chain offers environmental governance and visual ecosystems to track forest conservation and restoration strategies. Few case studies like Loss Plateau Restoration in China, African Great Green Wall afforestation monitoring system, and Madagascar drone-based forest assessment are discussed to highlight the forest cover, soil erosion, and the role of technologies in monitoring the same. In conclusion, the holistic framework of modern technologies like remote sensing, GIS, AI, blockchain, and digital twin technologies empower researchers and policymakers to hold a promise of restoring the ecosystem and preserve ecosystem for future generations.