Space is one of the UK’s fastest-growing industry sectors of the last decade. Recognising this, in 2021 the UK Government’s first National Space Strategy established a new vision to make the nation one of the most innovative and attractive worldwide space economies. As part of the strategic funding programme, in 2023, the UK Space Agency (UKSA) funded a scoping study to assess the potential of satellite data to address issues that the three North East England Local Resilience Forums face at all stages of implementing the UK’s Integrated Emergency Management Framework (IEMF). Through dedicated workshops convened by two North East England universities, regional stakeholders from the emergency domain and related industries identified three case studies ripe for applying satellite data in support of multi-agency IEMF activities. Master’s students in the UK’s Centre for Doctoral Training in Geospatial Systems then undertook a month-long integrated group project to assess the potential for satellite imagery to be applied in the identified application areas. The research reported in this paper demonstrates how satellite imagery may be adopted to help address challenges posed during power outages, for mitigating illegal waste site fires, and during periods of snow and extreme cold. While the maturity levels of satellite applications vary in the three case studies due to data availability and image resolution, all three cases demonstrate that space data, particularly when augmented with additional geospatial information, help to enhance IEMF analysis. It is anticipated that the findings from the study will help stakeholders involved in IEMF management appreciate the added value of integrating satellite data into their current processes and analyses. By empowering key stakeholders to use satellite applications more effectively, it is predicted that better decisions will be achieved, thereby improving emergency risk management. A prototype dashboard, an output of the research to demonstrate the potential of space data for emergency management, is available online.

This study presents a first assessment of the performances of a low-cost permanent laser scanning (PLS) system for geomorphic monitoring applications. The goal is to evaluate the applicability and accuracy of these accessible technologies in comparison with high-end, commercial laser scanning systems. The assessment focuses on accuracy estimations and reliability in detecting and quantifying geomorphic changes over time in a target area in the Rotmoos valley, located in the Ötztal (Tyrol, Austria), featuring sediment movement and riverbed changes that are manually induced in an experimental setup. In this study, we use a Livox Avia scanner, controllable via an open SDK and Raspberry Pi, as low-cost monitoring setup in comparison to a high-end RIEGL VZ-2000i TLS. We acquired 14 epochs of point clouds from both systems simultaneously while inducing changes to the scene in-between acquisitions. Changes are quantified via direct point cloud comparison using the M3C2 algorithm and assessed both spatially per epoch as well as regarding the time series information at selected locations. Our results show consistent change values and patterns obtained with both Livox and RIEGL scans, demonstrating that, despite minor differences in time series trends, the low-cost Livox scanner effectively captures geomorphic changes comparable to those measured by the RIEGL. Our presented approach, by leveraging affordable hardware and open-source software tools, could provide a cost-effective solution for long-term environmental monitoring. By comparing the results obtained from both systems, this research highlights the potential of low-cost alternatives for continuous geomorphic monitoring, offering valuable insights for cost-effective environmental management and research.