Protecting Steppe Birds by Monitoring with Sentinel Data and Machine Learning under the Common Agricultural Policy

This paper shows the work carried out to obtain a methodology capable of monitoring the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) aid line for the protection of steppe birds, which aims to improve the feeding and breeding conditions of these species and contribute to the improvement of their overall biodiversity population. Two methodologies were initially defined, one based on remote sensing (BirdsEO) and the other on Machine Learning (BirdsML). Both use Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data as a basis. BirdsEO encountered certain impediments caused by the land’s slope and the crop’s height. Finally, the methodology based on Machine Learning offered the best results. It evaluated the performance of up to 7 different Machine Learning classifiers, the most optimal being RandomForest. Fourteen different datasets were generated, and the results they offered were evaluated, the most optimal being the one with more than 150 features, including a time series of 8 elements with Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 data and derived products, among others. The generated model provided values higher than 97% in metrics such as accuracy, recall and Area under the ROC Curve, and 95% in precision and recall. The methodology is transformed into a tool that continuously monitors 100% of the area requesting aid, continuously over time, which contributes positively to optimizing the use of administrative resources and a fairer distribution of CAP funds.