How valuable is remotely sensed information? The case of tropical deforestation modelling

An economic approach to remote-sensing applications needs to be developed t o demonstrate the cost-advantage ratio of Earth observation for decision ma kers. This article aims to conduct such an analysis of the information deri ved by remote sensing for a specific operational project, following some ge neral chemical consideration about the economic value the economic value of information highlight that: of information. In our study of tropical defor estation modelling the main advantages of the remote-sensing-based informat ion system came from: (i) an improvement of decision making as decisions co uld be made with a higher degree of confidence, leading to a shorter and le ss expensive decision cycle, and to earlier implementation of decisions; an d (ii) avoidance of bad bad decisions, as the rate of project failure, and the associated resource wastes, was expected to decrease as a result of the availability of more accurate information. The costs of the model developm ent and calibration and model implementation are also discussed. The econom ic approach is then generalised to three generic categories of remote-sensi ng projects (private, public with short-term implications and public with l ong-term implications). (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.