Our Partners

Gerardo Lopez Saldana

Gerardo is the WorldPeatland Lead Scientist. He is a leading collaborator in the UK Space4Climate-sponsored UK Peatland Observatory. For the past two years, Gerardo has been working with temperate peatlands expert Prof Fred Worrall from the University of Durham, the UK Ordnance Survey and Natural England to provide quantitative indicators aimed to monitor peatland sites in the UK. Gerardo’s specific contributions were:

Generation of a DataCube with relevant EO datasets to monitor peatlands e.g., LAI, surface reflectance, SAR backscatter, etc.
Derivation of monthly standing water mask (using Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data) that was used to constraint peatland flux models.
Estimation of rate of recovery in peatland greenness and vegetation structure affected by wildfires.
Developed a peatland recovery tracker that includes a user interface, algorithms and analytics services from optical and reanalysis datasets. The tools allow for instance, to estimate the rate of recovery in peatland greenness and vegetation structure in peatlands sites affected by fire.

Gerardo’s deep expertise in multi-source, multi-parameter EO science was critical to the success of the Peatland Observatory. Gerardo’s efforts were complemented by other Assimila team members culminating with the project being presented at COP26.

Ian Jory

An accomplished professional Senior Project Manager (Prince 2 Practitioner) working at programme and project levels and dedicated to delivering solutions from inception to completion with client satisfaction always in mind.

At Assimila Ian manages a range of science projects covering topics dealing with agriculture, pest management and climate related issues.

Ian’s core experience is in satellite Earth observation and remote sensing, from the early days of image processing to current end-user applications. In addition he has also managed a wide range of large scale projects in a variety of industries including: Telecoms, Government, Legal and Space. Well versed in project management methodologies and associated tools, Ian has worked with cross functional teams from all around the globe and brings a broad range of skills to support the successful delivery of the WorldPeatland project.

Yara Al Sarrouh

Yara is an Earth Observation Application Scientist at Assimila, with a robust background in agriculture and remote sensing. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the American University of Beirut, where she specialized in hydrology and irrigation management. Her academic journey was further advanced by the Said Foundation Scholarship, which enabled her to earn a Master’s degree in Remote Sensing and Environmental Mapping from University College London.

In the WorldPeatland project, Yara utilizes her interdisciplinary expertise to translate Earth Observation (EO) data into practical indices that assess peatland health, providing valuable insights into changes in peatland vegetation over time. By leveraging bio-geophysical parameters such as Leaf Area Index, Land Surface Temperature, albedo, and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) cross-polarization ratios, she plays a crucial role in deepening the understanding of peatland ecosystems.

Her work involves:

Developing automated tools to download various EO products from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), Sentinel-1, and Sentinel-2.
Conducting thorough quality assessments, including the application of cloud and cloud shadow masks, to ensure data reliability.
Creating time series, calculating climatologies, and analysing anomalies to perform comprehensive time series analyses.
Creating fire indicators using Burned Area and active fire products from MODIS and VIIRS to monitor fire hazards in peatlands.

News & Blog

Using MT-InSAR methods to record peatland breathing: considerations and challenges

Through the ESA-funded WorldPeatland project, it was possible to assess the applicability of Multi-Temporal Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (MT-InSAR) methods for the study of peatlands located in boreal and temperate climate zones, as well as tropical ones.

WorldPeatland Contributes to Wet Horizons End-User Workshop

Connecting with ongoing peatland projects and collaborating on the creation of databases is crucial for the WorldPeatland team to train and validate Earth Observation tools developed within the consortium.