Limitations of remote monitoring
Like on-the-ground monitoring, remote monitoring has limitations that land trusts need to assess before deciding to develop a new or hybrid program.
Remote monitoring technology presents some limitations in certain ecosystems or when a monitor is investigating potential stewardship violations. Evergreen forest canopies, for example, pose the greatest challenge to true color and spectral resolution imagery because there is no leaf-off period for this ecosystem type. Without the ability to see through the canopy, small-scale issues may not be visible. As a result, remote monitoring can be challenging for organizations in the northern regions of North America, where this ecosystem is more common. Land trusts with easements without an evergreen canopy also must plan image capture around the leaf-off canopy times, which diminishes the window of time that imagery can be taken.
The example below from the accredited Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust in Massachusetts Illustrates the importance of in-person visits and the power of fine (high) resolution image, even if it’s older than a year, to identify existing issues. An in-person visit in 2022 revealed a shed that was previously undocumented. The shed was not visible in a 2022 Nearmap image, despite it being on of the best resolutions available at the time. The shed is visible in the 2019 MassGIS (0.15m) plane-flown aerial image which has prompted the organization to incorporate reviewing finer (higher) resolution imagery along side more recent imagery to identify and document the existence of other structures.
