Remote sensing

This chapter proposes a short review of selected recent activities on the use of Earth observation data for monitoring the hydrological, vegetation, and energy cycles of continental surfaces with a focus on the Euro-Mediterranean region. It is structured in three sections: (1) observing terrestrial variables from space; (2) integration of satellite-derived terrestrial variables into models; and (3) high spatial resolution products. The guidelines converge toward the assimilation of high-resolution remote sensing data, now freely available with notably the advent of Sentinel missions, into land surface models. This point of view is rooted in the continual improvement of Earth observation systems and is supported by science cases demonstrating that high-resolution data are required to represent better the heterogeneity of landscapes, especially in the Mediterranean region.