Rapid growing of geospatial techniques, like spatial statistics and earth observation remote sensing technology, as well as recent advances in artificial intelligence, increased the ability in monitoring environmental processes. In the last decades, there has been a growing awareness that geospatial technology has the ability to monitor, inspect and assess the environment, producing the information needed by regulatory practitioners, supporting the investigation of eco-criminal acts and environmental laws infringement. However, competent authorities across EU need to find out how information generated using geospatial intelligence best meets the requirements for the investigation of specific eco-criminal acts in the most efficient manner, in order to be used in court.
The Geospatial Intelligence for Environmental Damage Assessment (GIEDA) project aims to contribute on information needs related to illegal activities affecting the environmental matrices, demonstrating the capacity in producing a posteriori evidences of environmental damage caused by environmental incidents, violations, eco-criminal acts. Effective methodological approaches that use geospatial intelligence, based on the synergistic use of earth observation and geostatistical analysis, can provide valuable spatially explicit information, improving the ability to produce evidences: the characterization of the affected area in terms of nature, gravity, spatial extent, temporal occurrence and estimations of quantitative variations of specific biophysical parameters, can be a strong support to the assessment of environmental damage.
Reporting of real cases, foreseen under the GIEDA project also thorough a questionnaire to the environmental authorities, aims at sharing knowledge with practitioners, improving the ability to request and produce evidences, thus supporting the assessment of environmental damage under Environmental Liability Directive and Environmental Crime Directive.