At the National Forum for Remote Sensing and Copernicus 2026, hosted at ESA in Darmstadt, the Linnaeus Competence Center Hemp contributes a perspective that connects Earth Observation with tangible impact on the ground: How can Copernicus data support the restoration of degraded landscapes and help make agricultural land usable again?
Under the title “Copernicus-based approaches to combating desertification: Validating new EO applications for climate-resilient agriculture in West Africa”, Martin Wittau, Managing Director of the Linnaeus Competence Center Hemp, presents an approach that combines satellite data, regenerative agriculture and industrial hemp as a fast-growing pioneer crop.
The contribution proposes a shift in perspective: from merely observing land degradation to asking how Earth Observation can actively support decisions in agricultural practice. Vegetation development, soil moisture, biomass growth and land-use dynamics can already be reliably analysed using Copernicus data, particularly Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2. The real challenge is to translate these data into action, measurable impact and long-term transformation.
The focus is on the dry northern regions of Ghana. In this area, advancing desertification, climate stress, soil degradation and smallholder farming structures create an urgent need for agricultural systems that are both ecologically resilient and economically viable. Industrial hemp may play a specific role in such regenerative systems: it grows rapidly, builds biomass, can help stabilise soil structures and opens up local value chains – including fibres, construction materials, bio-based composites, proteins and, in the long term, future materials for high-tech applications.
The impulse presentation demonstrates how Copernicus data, AI-supported data fusion and time-series analysis can be used to measure progress in biomass development, soil stabilisation and the restoration of agricultural potential. In this way, land restoration becomes a concrete new use case for Earth Observation: not just monitoring, but decision support for farmers, advisory services, policymakers and development cooperation.
In the long term, this approach opens up opportunities for digital twins of landscapes, scalable pilot projects and support for international initiatives such as the Great Green Wall. The key lies in connecting technology, local value creation and practical implementation.
“We observe the Earth from space – but the real challenge is to change it on the ground,” says Martin Wittau, summarising the core message of the impulse.
The Linnaeus Competence Center Hemp sees this contribution as an invitation to exchange ideas and develop collaborations with research institutions, space actors, development organisations, policymakers and companies that understand Earth Observation not only as an analytical tool, but as a driver of transformation.