VegMachine.net. online land cover analysis for the Australian rangelands
Terrence S. Beutel A B C , Rebecca Trevithick B , Peter Scarth B and Dan Tindall B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, PO Box 6014, Red Hill, Rockhampton, Qld 4701, Australia.
B Department of Environment and Science, GPO Box 2454, Brisbane, Qld 4001, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: terry.beutel@daf.qld.gov.au
The Rangeland Journal 41(4) 355-362 https://doi.org/10.1071/RJ19013
Submitted: 18 March 2019 Accepted: 27 May 2019 Published: 5 August 2019
©The State of Queensland (through the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries) 2019 Open Access CC BY-NC-ND
Abstract
This paper documents the development and use of the VegMachine.net land cover monitoring tool. From 2002 to 2015, VegMachine® software was used by government agencies, natural resource management (NRM) groups and individual pastoralists in northern Australia to assess and benchmark vegetation cover levels. In 2016 the VegMachine.net website was launched to build a wider user base and assure service continuity. Users can now graph historical (1990–) cover on one or more user defined areas of interest (AOI), produce comprehensive paddock-by-paddock property monitoring reports, and view a range of land cover raster images through the website map panel. In its first 32 months of operation 913 users logged 1604 sessions on the website and more than 1000 of the website’s most comprehensive monitoring reports were distributed to users. Levels of use varied; 26% of users (n = 237) have used the website more than once, and within this group a smaller set of regular users (n = 36) have used the site more than five times, in many cases to provide analyses to multiple clients. We outline four case studies that document the significant impact VegMachine.net has had on users including graziers, government agencies, NRM groups and researchers. We also discuss some possible paths forward that could widen the user base and improve retention of first time users.
Additional keywords: environmental change, grazing pressure, land management, rangeland health, rangeland management, remote sensing.
References
Barnetson, J., Phinn, S., Scarth, P., and Denham, R. (2017). Assessing landsat fractional ground-cover time series across Australia’s arid rangelands: separating grazing impacts from climate variability. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences XLII-3/W2, 15–26.| Assessing landsat fractional ground-cover time series across Australia’s arid rangelands: separating grazing impacts from climate variability.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Bastin, G. N. (2008). Rangelands 2008: taking the pulse. National land & Water Audit on behalf of the ACRIS Management Committee, Canberra, ACT.
Beutel, T. S., and Silcock, J. (2008). Final Report for the Sustainable Management of Grazing Lands in Queensland’s Rangelands Project (Monitoring Component). Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Queensland.
Beutel, T. S., Karfs, R. A., Bull, A. L., Peel, L., and Wallace, J. F. (2004). VegMachine – putting pastoralists in the picture. Agricultural Science 17, 18–20.
Beutel, T., Karfs, R., Wallace, J., Trevithick, R., Scarth, P., and Tindall, D. (2015). VegMachine® in Queensland. In: ‘Innovation in the Rangelands. Proceedings of the 18th Australian Rangeland Society Biennial Conference’. Alice Springs, NT. (Ed. M. H. Friedel.) (Australian Rangeland Society: Parkside, SA)
Bird, M. I., Brand, M., Diefendorf, A. F., Haig, J. L., Hutley, L. B., Levchenko, V., Ridd, P. V., Cassandra Rowe, C., Whinney, J., Wurster, C. M., and Zwart, C. (2019). Identifying the ‘savanna’ signature in lacustrine sediments in northern Australia. Quaternary Science Reviews 203, 233–247.
| Identifying the ‘savanna’ signature in lacustrine sediments in northern Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Brinsmead, N. (2017). Let’s get technical. Introducing you to VegMachine®. Envoy 2017, 17.
Caccetta, P., Furby, S. L., O’Connell, J., Wallace, J. F., and Wu, X. (2007). Continental monitoring: 34 years of land cover change using Landsat imagery. In: ‘32nd International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment’. Costa Rica. (International Center for Remote Sensing of Environment: Tuscon, AZ, USA)
Chen, Y., Guerschman, J. P., Cheng, Z., and Guo, L. (2019). Remote sensing for vegetation monitoring in carbon capture storage regions: A review. Applied Energy 240, 312–326.
| Remote sensing for vegetation monitoring in carbon capture storage regions: A review.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Clancy, T., Long, S., Christensen, B., and Gibson, A. (2013). Transforming Australian Ecosystem Science. NCRIS final report. Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network, University of Queensland.
Cowley, R. (2018). VegMachine - Looking at the ground from the sky. Katherine Rural Review 335, 1–3.
Eddy, I. M., Gergel, S. E., Coops, N. C., Henebry, G. M., Levine, J., Zerriffi, H., and Shibkov, E. (2017). Integrating remote sensing and local ecological knowledge to monitor rangeland dynamics. Ecological Indicators 82, 106–116.
| Integrating remote sensing and local ecological knowledge to monitor rangeland dynamics.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Elledge, A., and Thornton, C. (2017). Effect of changing land use from virgin brigalow (Acacia harpophylla) woodland to a crop or pasture system on sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus in runoff over 25 years in subtropical Australia. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 239, 119–131.
| Effect of changing land use from virgin brigalow (Acacia harpophylla) woodland to a crop or pasture system on sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus in runoff over 25 years in subtropical Australia.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
FarmMap4D (2018). Fact sheet: Time series satellite data products. FarmMap4D. Available at: http://www.farmmap4d.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Time-series-data-satellite-productsV2.pdf (accessed 12 March 2019).
Guerschman, J. P., Hill, M. J., Renzullo, L. J., Barrett, D. J., Marks, A. S., and Botha, E. J. (2009). Estimating fractional cover of photosynthetic vegetation, non-photosynthetic vegetation and bare soil in the Australian tropical savanna region upscaling the EO-1 Hyperion and MODIS sensors. Remote Sensing of Environment 113, 928–945.
| Estimating fractional cover of photosynthetic vegetation, non-photosynthetic vegetation and bare soil in the Australian tropical savanna region upscaling the EO-1 Hyperion and MODIS sensors.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Guerschman, J. P., Scarth, P. F., McVicar, T. R., Renzullo, L. J., Malthus, T. J., Stewart, J. B., Rickards, J. E., and Trevithick, R. (2015). Assessing the effects of site heterogeneity and soil properties when unmixing photosynthetic vegetation, non-photosynthetic vegetation and bare soil fractions from Landsat and MODIS data. Remote Sensing of Environment 161, 12–26.
| Assessing the effects of site heterogeneity and soil properties when unmixing photosynthetic vegetation, non-photosynthetic vegetation and bare soil fractions from Landsat and MODIS data.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Karfs, R. A., Daly, C., Beutel, T. S., Peel, L., and Wallace, J. F. (2004). VegMachine - delivering monitoring information to Northern Australia’s pastoral industry. In: ‘Proceedings of the 12th Australasian Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Conference’. Fremantle, WA. (Spatial Sciences Institute: Canberra, ACT)
Karfs, R. A., Abbott, B. N., Scarth, P. F., and Wallace, J. F. (2009). Land condition monitoring information for reef catchments: a new era. The Rangeland Journal 31, 69–86.
| Land condition monitoring information for reef catchments: a new era.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Kumar, L., Sinha, P., Taylor, S., and Alqurashi, A. F. (2015). Review of the use of remote sensing for biomass estimation to support renewable energy generation. Journal of Applied Remote Sensing 9, 097696.
| Review of the use of remote sensing for biomass estimation to support renewable energy generation.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Lawley, V., Lewis, M., Clarke, K., and Ostendorf, B. (2016). Site-based and remote sensing methods for monitoring indicators of vegetation condition: An Australian review. Ecological Indicators 60, 1273–1283.
| Site-based and remote sensing methods for monitoring indicators of vegetation condition: An Australian review.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Leys, J., Heidenreich, S., Koen, T., and Colson, I. (2016). DustWatch Network and Roadside Survey 2016. Report for contract WN00732. Local Land Services, New South Wales Government.
Leys, J., Chappell, A., Mewett, J., and Barson, M. (2017). Wind Erosion Assessment for National Landcare Program. NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, Australia.
Peel, L. J., Beutel, T. S., Bull, A. L., Karfs, R. A., and Wallace, J. (2006). NBP.315 VegMachine – Extending Integrated Rangeland Monitoring Information to Industry. Meat and Livestock Australia, North Sydney, NSW.
Punalekar, S. M., Verhoef, A., Quaife, T. L., Humphries, D., Bermingham, L., and Reynolds, C. K. (2018). Application of Sentinel-2A data for pasture biomass monitoring using a physically based radiative transfer model. Remote Sensing of Environment 218, 207–220.
| Application of Sentinel-2A data for pasture biomass monitoring using a physically based radiative transfer model.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
QRIScloud (2018). QRIScloud delivers satellite data to Australian farmers, government and the public. Available at: https://www.qriscloud.org.au/about-qriscloud/case-studies/item/82-qriscloud-delivers-satellite-data-to-australian-farmers-govt-and-the-public (accessed 12 March 2019).
Queensland Government (2018). Reef 2050 Water Quality Improvement Plan 2017–2022. Available at: https://www.reefplan.qld.gov.au/about/assets/reef-2050-water-quality-improvement-plan-2017-22.pdf (accessed 12 March 2019).
Ramoelo, A., Stolter, C., Joubert, D., Cho, M. A., Groengroeft, A., Madibela, O. R., Zimmermann, I., and Pringle, H. (2018). Rangeland monitoring and assessment: a review. In: ‘Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management in Southern Africa – Assessments, Changes, Challenges, and Solutions’. (Eds R. Revermann, K. M. Krewenka, U. Schmiedel, J. M. Olwoch, J. Helmschrot and N. Jürgens.). Biodiversity & Ecology 6, 170–176. (Klaus Hess Publishers: Göttingen and Windhoek.)
Reeves, M. C., and Baggett, L. S. (2014). A remote sensing protocol for identifying rangelands with degraded productive capacity. Ecological Indicators 43, 172–182.
| A remote sensing protocol for identifying rangelands with degraded productive capacity.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Reeves, M. C., Robert, A., Angerer, J., Hunt, E. R., Jr, Wasantha, R., and Kumar, L. (2015). Global View of Remote Sensing of Rangelands: Evolution, Applications, Future Pathways. In: ‘Land Resources Monitoring, Modeling, and Mapping with Remote Sensing’. pp. 237–266. (CRC Press/Taylor and Francis Group: Boca Raton, FL, USA.)
Renard, K. G., Foster, G. R., Weesies, G. A., McCool, D. K., and Yoder, D. C. (1997). ‘Predicting Soil Erosion by Water: A Guide to Conservation Planning with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE).’ USDA, Agriculture Handbook No. 703. (United States Department of Agriculture: Washington, DC.)
Russell-Smith, J., and Sangha, K. K. (2018). Emerging opportunities for developing a diversified land sector economy in Australia’s northern savannas. The Rangeland Journal 40, 315–330.
| Emerging opportunities for developing a diversified land sector economy in Australia’s northern savannas.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Saiz, G., Goodrick, I., Wurster, C., Nelson, P. N., Wynn, J., and Bird, M. (2018). Preferential production and transport of grass-derived pyrogenic carbon in NE-Australian savanna ecosystems. Frontiers of Earth Science 5, 115.
| Preferential production and transport of grass-derived pyrogenic carbon in NE-Australian savanna ecosystems.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Scarth, P., Röder, A., and Schmidt, M. (2010). Tracking grazing pressure and climate interaction – the role of Landsat fractional cover in time series analysis. In: ‘Proceedings of the 15th Australasian Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Conference (ARSPC)’. 13–17 September, Alice Springs, NT. pp. 13–17. (Spatial Sciences Institute: Canberra, ACT)
Scarth, P., Guerschman, J. P., Clarke, K., and Phinn, S. (2015). Validation of Australian Fractional Cover Products from MODIS and Landsat Data. AusCover Good Practice Guidelines: A Technical Handbook Supporting Calibration and Validation Activities of Remotely Sensed Data Product, 123–138.
Stewart, J. B., Rickards, J. E., Randall, L. A., McPhee, R. K., and Paplinska, J. Z. (2014). Ground cover monitoring for Australia: Final report July 2012 to June 2013. ABARES Technical report 14.1. Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Canberra.
TERN AusCover (2017a). Seasonal ground cover. Available at: http://www.auscover.org.au/purl/landsat-seasonal-ground-cover (accessed 12 March 2019).
TERN AusCover (2017b). Seasonal fractional cover. Available at: http://auscover.org.au/purl/landsat-seasonal-fractional-cover (accessed 12 March 2019).
TERN AusCover (2017c). Foliage Projective cover. Available at: http://data.auscover.org.au/xwiki/bin/view/Product+pages/qld_fpc (accessed 12 March 2019).
TERN AusCover (2017d). Seasonal persistent green cover. Available at: http://www.auscover.org.au/purl/landsat-seasonal-persistent-green (accessed 12 March 2019).
TERN AusCover (2018). Seasonal cover deciles – Landsat. Available at: (http://www.auscover.org.au/purl/landsat-seasonal-cover-deciles (accessed 12 March 2019).
TERN AusCover (2019). Seasonal fractional cover – Sentinel-2. Available at: http://data.auscover.org.au/xwiki/bin/view/Product+pages/Sentinel-2+Seasonal+Fractional+Cover (accessed 12 March 2019).
Thornes, J. B. (2007). Modelling soil erosion by grazing: recent developments and new approaches. Geographical Research 45, 13–26.
| Modelling soil erosion by grazing: recent developments and new approaches.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Trevithick, R., Scarth, P., Tindall, D., Denham, R., and Flood, N. (2014). Cover under trees: RP64G Synthesis Report. Department of Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts, Brisbane, Qld.
Wallace, J. F., Caccetta, P. A., and Kiiveri, H. T. (2004). Recent developments in analysis of spatial and temporal data for landscape qualities and monitoring. Austral Ecology 29, 100–107.
| Recent developments in analysis of spatial and temporal data for landscape qualities and monitoring.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Whish, G. (2016). Accelerating the use of FORAGE and other complementary tools to support sustainable grazing land practices. DAF Final Report 3214B. Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Queensland.
Willis, M., Nelson, B., and Brown, K. (2017). Extension through Grazing BMP: An integration of production and natural resource management. Rural Extension and Innovation Systems Journal 13, 156.
Zhang, B., and Carter, J. (2018). FORAGE – An online system for generating and delivering property-scale decision support information for grazing land and environmental management. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 150, 302–311.
| FORAGE – An online system for generating and delivering property-scale decision support information for grazing land and environmental management.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
