Satellite imagery is being used to assist land managers make decisions about their enterprises thanks to the work being carried out by NQ Dry Tropics, the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (formerly Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries) , Department of Environment and Resource Management (formerly Department of Natural Resources and Water), and CSIRO.

The Burdekin Rangeland Condition Monitoring project worked on a number of tasks that enabled graziers and NQ Dry Tropics to monitor the changes that occurred in the Burdekin rangelands over a twenty year time period. It is often difficult to see the trends in land condition improvement or decline due to climate variability; remote sensing allows ground cover to be measured across the extensive grazing lands.

The project identified D condition lands in the Burdekin Rangelands using remote sensing and rapid assessment ground-truthing, and a report is available on request from NQ Dry Tropics. The project also identified areas that are at risk of slipping into D condition, and this information is used by NQ Dry Tropics to prioritise areas for future on-ground projects.

The Burdekin Rangelands Condition Monitoring project also developed an ABCD land conditon booklet to enable graziers to assess land condition across a variety of landtypes in the Burdekin using the ABCD framework. This booklet is available for download from the publications section of our website.