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22 Nov 2011
Unit:
LEI
 Adaptation to climate change requires effective environmental monitoring. The European Union finances the project Geoland 2, which is aimed at providing harmonised geo-information at global to local scales. Some of this spatial environmental information is supplied by remote sensing (such as satellite imagery), but important information can also be deduced from economic data, converted into their environmental impact through modelling.
Such a model is CAPRI, developed by the University of Bonn in order to simulate impacts of the EU Common Agriculture Policy at regional level. The model uses data collected at farm level in all EU member states. Based on actual agricultural management practices and farm policies, it is possible to forecast nutrient loads per farm unit. Combining these with land-use data from satellite images and with soil maps, nutrient loads and leakages can be mapped. For nitrogen, such a map has recently been produced by LEI, part of Wageningen UR, which is a partner in the Geolan 2 project and which works with CAPRI.
Literature: Kempen, M., T. Heckelei, W. Britz, A. Leip, R. Koeble and G. Marchi (2005). Computation of a European Agricultural Land Use Map: Statistical approach and validation. Bonn, Institute for Food and resource Economics.
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