Environmental monitoring plays a central role in diagnosing climate and management impacts on natural and agricultural systems; enhancing the understanding of hydrological processes; optimizing the allocation and distribution of water resources; and assessing, forecasting, and even preventing natural disasters. Nowadays, most monitoring and data collection systems are based upon a combination of ground-based measurements, manned airborne sensors, and satellite observations. These data are utilized in describing both small-and large-scale processes, but have spatiotemporal constraints inherent to each respective collection system. Bridging the unique spatial and temporal divides that limit current monitoring platforms is key to improving our understanding of environmental systems. In this context, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) have considerable potential to radically improve environmental monitoring. UAS-mounted sensors offer an extraordinary opportunity to bridge the existing gap between field observations and traditional air-and space-borne remote sensing, by providing high spatial detail over relatively large areas in a cost-effective way and an entirely new capacity for enhanced temporal retrieval. As well as showcasing recent advances in the field, there is also a need to identify and understand the potential limitations of UAS technology. For these platforms to reach their monitoring potential, a wide spectrum of unresolved issues and application-specific challenges require focused community attention. Indeed, to leverage the full potential of UAS-based approaches, sensing technologies, measurement protocols, postprocessing techniques, retrieval algorithms, and evaluation techniques need to be harmonized. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the existing research and applications of UAS in natural and agricultural ecosystem monitoring in order to identify future directions, applications, developments, and challenges.
We present early to mid-Holocene palaeocoastline reconstructions for the Tolkuse-Rannametsa area on the eastern coast of the Gulf of Riga. Radiocarbon-dated sediment stratigraphies and diatom analyses, supported by ground-penetrating radar data and GIS-based modelling, were used in the palaeogeographical reconstructions to strip back younger sediments and landforms from the LiDAR-derived digital elevation model. The reconstructions show an open coast environment during the Ancylus Lake stage and the formation of a peatland after the lake drainage at about 9000-8600 cal. a BP. The waters of the Litorina Sea flooded the study area between 8200 and 7700 cal. a BP, forming a 25-km-long and up to 5.5-m-deep lagoon with two connections to the sea. This brackish water lagoon existed in the area for about 4000 years and terminated around 3800-3500 cal. a BP as a result of isostatic uplift and growth of the barrier spit. The reconstructions illustrate the relationships between the lagoonal system and three Mesolithic and Neolithic settlement sites found in the study area. A comparative analysis which besides palaeogeographical and ecological data included a data set with more than 100 Stone Age sites from the eastern Baltic region, was used to propose the most suitable locations for coastal settlements in the Tolkuse-Rannametsa area. However, some of these areas are presently covered by a peat layer that is several metres thick, which may explain the relative scarcity of the archaeological finds on the shores of the palaeo-lagoon. The proposed multiproxy approach has the capability to delimit the areas that would have been favourable for prehistoric habitation, but might not be observable in the present-day topography. In return, this increases the likelihood of locating any well-preserved preserved settlement sites and artefacts that are buried under the protective sediment layer.Hando-Laur Habicht (hando-laur.habicht@ut.ee)and Raivo Aunap, studies and was incorporated into the current study for detailed palaeogeographical reconstruction of a palaeo-lagoon system in the coastal zone of the Gulf of Riga, the Baltic Sea.
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