Research Profile

Rory Scarrott

Biography

Rory is a graduate of University College Cork, with a B.Sc. in Applied Ecology, a Joint MSc. in Geo-information and Earth Observation for Environmental Modelling and Management (studying in the Universities of Southampton, Lund, Warsaw, Boston, and in ITC (University of Twente), and a Ph.D.(Sc) in Geography from UCC.

Rory began working in UCC in October 2009 mapping the distribution and condition of Irish peatlands for Friends of the Irish Environment, and assessing potential Irish geo-informatics sources to support their Peatlands and Water quality initiatives.  He later explored the use of time-series remote sensing to identify and characterise distinct Irish vegetation phenology classes, funded by the Environmental Protection Agency through the Climate Change Impacts on Phenology project. Over 2010, he became involved in UCC’s Marine Irish Digital Atlas, providing technical support to the MIDA team and worked on a number of projects, including the SECAD Community Trails Development Project for South & East Cork Area Development Ltd. He has also supported UCC's contribution to the CCI-Soil Moisture project, funded by the European Space Agency.

Rory's recent portfolio includes:
  • the European Space Agency funded eSurge project, which aims to increase the usage of satellite Earth Observation data in storm surge modelling and forecasting,
  • the EC FP7-funded SAFI project, supporting the aquaculture and fisheries industries with decision support information derived from satellite-data
  • The EC H2020-Co-ReSyF, and European Space Agency funded Coastal-TEP (Thematic Exploitation Platform) Initiatives, building gateways unlocking the wealth of Coastal Information contained in Earth Observation datasets, and
  • the European Space Agency funded CINMarS project, developing a roadmap for Blue Economy clusters to drive and harness innovation in joint space-maritime opportunities.
  • the INTERREG-AA KETMaritime project, developing a systemic roadmap to enhance Key Enabling Technology uptake by the Maritime sector.
In 2022, Rory completed his Ph.D. research, exploiting the spatio-temporal patterns recorded in hypertemporal Earth Observation archives of our ocean surface, to map the heterogeneity characteristics of the ocean's surface . The research was undertaken as part of the H2020-funded Co-ReSyF Initiative, building an online platform to enable non-EO experts and new coastal researchers to explore, and gave insights into the potential of accessing the wealth of information hidden in Earth Observation data archives.

 Following completion of his Ph.D. research, he began working on the H2020-DOORS Black Sea project, connecting Blue Economy stakeholders to opportunities in Europe's advanced data and information analysis systems. In addition, Rory continues to work on UCC's Marine Irish Digital Atlas, and various science communications and outreach activities both within and outside the university.




Research Interests

Ecology, Earth Observation, Remote Sensing, Geographical Information Systems, Biogeography, Sociology, Public policy, Environmental Legislation

Publications

Peer Reviewed Journals

 YearPublication
(2021)'Ocean-surface Heterogeneity MApping (OHMA) to identify regions of change'
Scarrott, R.G., Cawkwell, F., Jessopp, M., Cusack, C., O'Rourke, E., de Bie, C.A.J.M. (2021) 'Ocean-surface Heterogeneity MApping (OHMA) to identify regions of change'. Remote Sensing, 13 (7) [DOI] [Details]
(2021)'Absolute Baltic Sea Level Trends in the Satellite Altimetry Era: A Revisit'
Passaro, M;Muller, FL;Oelsmann, J;Rautiainen, L;Dettmering, D;Hart-Davis, MG;Abulaitijiang, A;Andersen, OB;Hoyer, JL;Madsen, KS;Ringgaard, IM;Sarkka, J;Scarrott, R;Schwatke, C;Seitz, F;Tuomi, L;Restano, M;Benveniste, J (2021) 'Absolute Baltic Sea Level Trends in the Satellite Altimetry Era: A Revisit'. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8 [DOI] [Details]
(2019)'From Land to Sea, a Review of Hypertemporal Remote Sensing Advances to Support Ocean Surface Science'
Scarrott, R.G., Cawkwell, F., Jessopp, M., O'Rourke, E., Cusack, C., de Bie, K. (2019) 'From Land to Sea, a Review of Hypertemporal Remote Sensing Advances to Support Ocean Surface Science'. Water, 11 (11):1-28   [DOI] [Details]
(2012)'LaHMa: a landscape heterogeneity mapping method using hyper-temporal datasets'
de Bie, CAJM,Thi, THN,Ali, A,Scarrott, R,Skidmore, AK (2012) 'LaHMa: a landscape heterogeneity mapping method using hyper-temporal datasets'. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 26 :2177-2192 [DOI] [Details]

Other Journals

 YearPublication
(2019)'Earth observation applications for coastal sustainability: potential and challenges for implementation'
Politi, E;Paterson, SK;Scarrott, R;Tuohy, E;O'Mahony, C;Camaro-Garcia, WCA (2019) 'Earth observation applications for coastal sustainability: potential and challenges for implementation' Anthropocene Coasts, 2 :306-329. [DOI] [Details]
(2014)'Mapping the heterogeneity of natural and semi-natural landscapes'
Ali, Amjad; de Bie, C.A.J.M.; Skidmore, A.K.; Scarrott, R.G.; Lymberakis, P. (2014) 'Mapping the heterogeneity of natural and semi-natural landscapes' International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 26 :176-183.   [DOI] [Details]
(2012)'Mapping land cover gradients through analysis of hyper-temporal NDVI imagery'
Amjad Ali, C.A.J.M. de Bie, A.K. Skidmore, R.G. Scarrott, Amina Hamad, V. Venus, Petros Lymberakis (2012) 'Mapping land cover gradients through analysis of hyper-temporal NDVI imagery' International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, .   [DOI] [Details]

Conference Publications

 YearPublication
(2018)IGARSS 2018 - 2018 IEEE INTERNATIONAL GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING SYMPOSIUM
Homem, M;Grosso, N;Catarino, N;Scarrott, R;Politi, E;Cronin, A (2018) The COastal waters Research SYnergy Framework, for unlocking our potential for coastal innovation growth IGARSS 2018 - 2018 IEEE INTERNATIONAL GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING SYMPOSIUM , pp.787-790 [Details]
(2017)2017 Conference on Big Data from Space (BiDS'17)
Miguel Homem, Nuno Grosso, Nuno Catarino, Rory Scarrott, Eirini Politi, Abigail Cronin (2017) The COastal waters Research Synergy Framework, for unlocking our potential for coastal innovation growth 2017 Conference on Big Data from Space (BiDS'17) Toulouse, France, , 28-NOV-17 - 30-NOV-17 [Details]
(2016)International Conference on Marine Data and Information Systems (IMDIS)
Politi, E., Scarrott, R., Terra Homem, M., Caumont, H., Grosso, N., Mangin, A. & Catarino, N. (2016) Unlocking the potential for coastal innovation growth using Earth Observation data and cloud infrastructure International Conference on Marine Data and Information Systems (IMDIS) Gdansk, Poland, , 11-OCT-16 - 13-OCT-16 , pp.77-79 [Details]
(2016)Living Planet Symposium
Vincent, C., Mangin, M., Bryère, P., Serra, R., Sicard, P., Lesne, O., Scarrott, R., Dunne, D., Gault, J., Lecouffe, C., Rougier, A., Jarry, E., Morales, J., Moreno, O., Duque Perea, R., Jimenex, C., Martinez, I., Gaspar, M., Rufino, M., Santos, A.M., Garrido, S., Bugalho, L., Marques, V. (2016) Making use of the latest Earth Observation datasets from Copernicus Programme - the SAFI EU-FP7 project Living Planet Symposium www.safiservices.eu/assets/docs/SAFI_LivingPlanet_Article.pdf, [Details]
(2012)XXII ISPRS Congress
Ali, Amjad, de Bie, C.A.J.M., Scarrott, R.G., Ha, Nguyen Thi Thu, Skidmore, A.K. (2012) Comparative performance analysis of a hyper-temporal NDVI analysis approach and a landscape-ecological mapping approach XXII ISPRS Congress Melbourne, Australia, , 25-AUG-12 - 01-SEP-12 , pp.105-110   [Details]

Published Reports

 YearPublication
(2021)BALTIC+ Theme 3 Baltic+ SEAL (Sea Level) Scientific Roadmap.
Scarrot, Rory; Passaro, Marcello; Chalençon, Emma; Dettmering, Denise; Oelsmann, Julius; Rautiainen, Laura; Tuomi. Laura; Särkkä, Jani; Abulaitijiang, Adili; Anderson, Ole; Høyer, Jacob; Madsen, Kristine; Ringgaard, Ida; Schwatke, Christian (2021) BALTIC+ Theme 3 Baltic+ SEAL (Sea Level) Scientific Roadmap. Technische Universität München, Germany.   [DOI] [Full Text] [Details]
(2020)KETmaritime: Setting course to energise maritime uptake of Key Enabling Technologies.
Scarrott, R.G., O’Mahony, C., Sweeney, M., Williams, J., Gault, J., Sullivan, T., Vila, A. (2020) KETmaritime: Setting course to energise maritime uptake of Key Enabling Technologies. University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.   [DOI] [Details]
(2018)Slingshot: Unlocking Our Maritime-Space potential using Cross-sectoral Innovation Networks.
Scarrott, R., O' Mahony, C., Ellingsen, M-B., Ferreira, F., Shanahan, P., Morais, T., Cronin, A., Alves, A.S., Silva, E., Almeida, C. (2018) Slingshot: Unlocking Our Maritime-Space potential using Cross-sectoral Innovation Networks. UCC, University College Cork. [DOI] [Full Text] [Details]
(2014)BIOPLAN Final Report: Implementation of an assessmentand monitoring programme for Irish and British forests.
Irwin, S., Kelly, D., Mitchell, F., Wilson, M., Dietzsch, A., Coote, L., Graham, C., Barsoum, N., Newman, M., Fuller, L., Deady, R., Sharkey, N., Bourke, D., Jones, M., Scarrott, R., Kopke, K., Roig Cervera, D., Kelly, T., O' Halloran, J. (2014) BIOPLAN Final Report: Implementation of an assessmentand monitoring programme for Irish and British forests. COFORD, Ireland. [Full Text] [Details]
(2014)Achieving effective Rhododendron control: RHODO.
Daly, E., McCarthy, N., Irwin, S., Scarrott, R., Roig Cervera, D. (2014) Achieving effective Rhododendron control: RHODO. Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine, Dublin. [Details]
(2013)Use of Remote Sensing in Phenological Research in Ireland; In:Climate Change Impacts on Phenology: Implications for Terrestrial Ecosystems.
O' Connor, B.; Scarrott, R.; O' Dwyer, N.; O' Neill, B.; Donnelly, A. (2013) Use of Remote Sensing in Phenological Research in Ireland; In:Climate Change Impacts on Phenology: Implications for Terrestrial Ecosystems. Environmental Protection Agency, Dublin, Ireland.   [Details]
(2012)ESA CCI Soil Moisture: Comprehensive Error Characterisation Report.
Wagner, W.; Dorigo, W.; de Jeu, R.; Parinussa, R.; Scarrott, R.; Kimmo, W.L., Dubková, M., Dwyer, N., Barrett, B. (2012) ESA CCI Soil Moisture: Comprehensive Error Characterisation Report. European Space Agency, ESA ESRIN, Italy.   [Details]
(2010)Industrialised Peat Extraction Scoping Project: Final report on the Use of Remote Sensing to Evaluate the Potential of Identifying Exposed and Vegetated Peatlands in the Republic of Ireland.
Fiona Cawkwell, Ned Dwyer and Rory Scarrott (2010) Industrialised Peat Extraction Scoping Project: Final report on the Use of Remote Sensing to Evaluate the Potential of Identifying Exposed and Vegetated Peatlands in the Republic of Ireland. Friends of the Irish Environment, Online.   [Details]
(2010)A Report and Register of Irish Geoinformatics for Monitoring Landcover and Landuse Changes.
Rory Scarrott (2010) A Report and Register of Irish Geoinformatics for Monitoring Landcover and Landuse Changes. Friends of the Irish Environment, Online.   [Details]

Manual

 YearPublication
(2021)BALTIC+ Theme 3 Baltic+ SEAL (Sea Level) Product Handbook.
Passaro, M.; Müller, F.; Dettmering, D.; Abulaitjiang, A.; Rautiainen, L.; Scarrott, R.; Chalençon, E.; Sweeney, M. (2021) BALTIC+ Theme 3 Baltic+ SEAL (Sea Level) Product Handbook. Manual [DOI] [Full Text] [Details]

Unpublished Reports

 YearPublication
(2019)KETmaritime: Workshop Report - Enriching maritime R&D through Key Enabling Technologies - Work.
Scarrott, R.G., Tuohy, E. (2019) KETmaritime: Workshop Report - Enriching maritime R&D through Key Enabling Technologies - Work. Cork, Ireland: Unpublished Reports [Full Text] [Details]
(2015)CINMarS: Workshop 1 Report.
Shanahan, P., Cronin, A., Scarrott, R.G., O' Mahony, C., (2015) CINMarS: Workshop 1 Report. Cork, Ireland: Unpublished Reports [Full Text] [Details]

Professional Activities

Honours and Awards

 YearTitleAwarding Body
2015Best New Researcher Irish Earth Observation Symposium

Conference Contributions

 YearPublication
(2017)Irish Earth Observation Symposium,
Scarrott, R., Cawkwell, F., O’ Rourke, E., Jessopp, M., Politi, E., Grosso, N., Terra-Homen, M (2017) Hyper-temporal advances: Methodology progress and recommendations for ocean data opportunities. [Oral Presentation], Irish Earth Observation Symposium, Maynooth , 02-NOV-17 - 03-NOV-17. [Details]
(2015)Coastal Ocean Connections 2015: Sharing coastal & ocean data,
Rory Scarrott (2015) Enhancing coastal and maritime governance, operations and development with webGIS applications. [Invited Lectures (Workshops)], Coastal Ocean Connections 2015: Sharing coastal & ocean data, St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada , 11-MAR-15 - 11-MAR-15. [Details]
(2015)Irish Earth Observation Symposium 2015,
Eimear Tuohy, Sebastien Clerc, Rory Scarrott, Marc Shorten, Micheal Aspetsberger, Mihai Datcu, Stephane Pierotti, Jerome Gasperi, Stephano Vignudelli, Diomede Illuzz. (2015) Disseminating information on cloud processing for EO data. [Oral Presentation], Irish Earth Observation Symposium 2015, NUIG Galway , 21-OCT-15 - 22-OCT-15. [Details]
(2015)2nd Irish Industry Space Day,
Rory Scarrott. Eimear Tuohy, Chiara Pratola (2015) Marine Earth Observation & Applications at University College Cork. [Invited Lectures (Workshops)], 2nd Irish Industry Space Day, Hibernian Club, Dublin City, Ireland , 02-SEP-15 - 02-SEP-15. [Details]
(2015)9th Irish Earth Observation Symporium 2015,
Scarrott, R.; Tuohy, E.; Power, S.; Shorten, M.; Mangin, A.; Vincent, C.; Lesne, O.; Lecouffe, C.; Gaspar, M.; Santos, M.; Rufino, M.; Morales, J.; Moreno, O.; Duque, R.A (2015) Communicating information held in EO data: SAFI - Supporting our Aquaculture and Fisheries Industries. [Oral Presentation], 9th Irish Earth Observation Symporium 2015, NUI Galway , 20-OCT-15 - 21-OCT-15. [Details]
(2015)CoastGIS 2015: Rich Data, Poor Data: Geospatial Creativity and Innovation for Managing Changing Coastal Systems,
Rory Scarrott, Declan Dunne, Helen Snaith, Ned Dwyer, Phillip Harwood, & Craig Donlon (2015) eSurge: Applying web-GIS technology to promote Earth Observation data exploration for storm surge research and forecasting. [Oral Presentation], CoastGIS 2015: Rich Data, Poor Data: Geospatial Creativity and Innovation for Managing Changing Coastal Systems, Protea Breakwater Lodge, Capt Town, South Africa , 19-APR-15 - 20-APR-15. [Details]
(2014)8th Irish Earth Observation Symposium, 2014,
Scarrott, R.G., Dwyer, N., McElligott, D., Shorten, M., Mangin, A., Vincent, C., Lesne, O., Lecouffe, C., Defaux, V., Silva, J-P., Gaspar, M., Santos, M., Rufino, M., Tazi, O., Morales, J., Moreno, O., Duque, R.A. (2014) SAFI: Supporting our Aquaculture and Fisheries Industries. [Poster Presentation], 8th Irish Earth Observation Symposium, 2014, NUI Maynooth, Ireland , 30-OCT-14 - 31-OCT-14. [Details]
(2014)8th Irish Earth Observation Symposium, 2014,
McElligott, D., Scarrott, R., Dwyer, N., Shorten, M (2014) Satellites and requirements; the chicken and the egg conundrum. [Oral Presentation], 8th Irish Earth Observation Symposium, 2014, NUI Maynooth, Ireland , 30-OCT-14 - 31-OCT-14. [Details]
(2013)Smartbay Workshop 2013,
Cormac Gebruers, Gerry Sutton, Rory Scarrott, Ned Dwyer, Brendan Cahill, Cdr. David Barry (2013) SmartBay Mobilis Buoy Deployment, Cork Harbour: Extending and adding value to SmartBay through Collaborative Projects & Practical initiatives. [Oral Presentation], Smartbay Workshop 2013, Marine Institute, Galway, Ireland , 12-JUN-13 - 12-JUN-13. [Details]
(2013)PLANFORBIO Outreach Day,
Scarrott, R., Roig Cervera, D., Kopke, K. (2013) The PLANFORBIO GIS: Opportunities for multi-disciplinary research and decision support. [Oral Presentation], PLANFORBIO Outreach Day, Portlaoise Heritage Hotel, Portlaoise, Ireland , 09-DEC-13 - 09-DEC-13. [Details]
(2013)7th Irish Earth Observation Symposium,
Scarrott, R., Dwyer, N., Dunne, D. (2013) eSurge: Earth Observation data access and capacity building for storm surge modelling and forecasting. [Oral Presentation], 7th Irish Earth Observation Symposium, Teagasc, Ashtown, Dublin , 24-OCT-13 - 25-OCT-13. [Details]
(2012)2nd TERRABITES Symposium,
Ali, A., de Bie, C.A.J.M., Skidmore, A.K., Scarrott, R.G. (2012) A new landscape heterogeneity method for accurately mapping natural and semi natural landscape. [Poster Presentation], 2nd TERRABITES Symposium, ESRIN, Frascati, Italy , 06-FEB-12 - 08-FEB-12. [Details]
(2012)Irish Earth Observation Symposium 2012,
R.G. Scarrott, F. Cawkwell, N. Dwyer, B. Barrett, C. Pratola, I. Nitze, A. Patterson, C. O' Mahony, D. Dunne, S. Twomey (2012) Land and Sea: Diversity in Remote Sensing Research. [Poster Presentation], Irish Earth Observation Symposium 2012, Department of Spatial Information Sciences Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) Bolton Street, Dublin 1 , 01-NOV-12 - 02-NOV-12. [Details]
(2012)Irish Earth Observation Symposium 2012,
R. Scarrott, N. Dwyer, H. Snaith, P. Cipollini (2012) eSurge: Improving storm surge prediction with satellite information. [Oral Presentation], Irish Earth Observation Symposium 2012, Department of Spatial Information Sciences Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) Bolton Street, Dublin 1 , 01-NOV-12 - 02-NOV-12. [Details]
(2012)European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2012,
Ali, A., de Bie, C.A.J.M., Skidmore, A.K., Scarrott, R.G. (2012) Detection of long duration cloud contamination in hyper-temporal NDVI imagery. [Poster Presentation], European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2012, Vienna, Austria , 22-APR-12 - 27-APR-12. [Details]
(2011)ENVIRON 2011 - Towards 2020: Environmental challenges and opportunities for the next decade,
Scarrott, R.G., O' Connor, B., Dwyer, N., Cawkwell, F. (2011) Characterising landcover using vegetation seasonality profiles determined from satellite imagery. [Oral Presentation], ENVIRON 2011 - Towards 2020: Environmental challenges and opportunities for the next decade, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland , 06-APR-12 - 08-APR-12. [Details]
(2011)European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2011,
O' Connor, B., Scarrott, R., Dwyer, N., Cawkwell, F. (2011) Land Surface Phenology in Ireland: a multi-sensor perspective. [Poster Presentation], European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2011, Vienna, Austria , 03-APR-12 - 08-APR-12. [Details]
(2011)Irish Earth Observation Symposium 2011,
Scarrott, R.G., O' Connor, B., Dwyer, N., Cawkwell, F. (2011) Characterising landcover using vegetation seasonality profiles determined from satellite imagery. [Oral Presentation], Irish Earth Observation Symposium 2011, Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford, Republic of Ireland , 17-NOV-11 - 18-NOV-11. [Details]
(2010)UK Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society,
Cawkwell, F., Dwyer, N., Scarrott, R.; (2010) Mapping and monitoring Irish peatlands using satellite imagery. [Conference Organising Committee Chairperson], UK Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society, Cork , 01-SEP-10 - 03-SEP-10. [Details]
(2010)UK Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society Cork,
Cawkwell, F., Dwyer, N., Scarrott, R. (2010) Mapping and monitoring Irish peatlands using satellite imagery. [Oral Presentation], UK Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society Cork, Cork . [Details]

Committees

 CommitteeFunctionFrom / To
Co-ReSyF General Assembly Chairperson2016 / 2017

Education

 YearInstitutionQualificationSubject
2005University College Cork BSCApplied Ecology
2009University of Southampton, Lund University, University of Warsaw, ITC (University of Twente) MScGeographical Information Systems and Earth Observation for Environmental Modelling and Management

Languages

 LanguageReadingWritingSpeaking
English FluentFluentFluent
Spanish FunctionalFunctionalFunctional
Gaeilge FunctionalBasicBasic
French FunctionalBasicBasic

Teaching Activities

Teaching Interests

Earth Observation, Ocean Remote Sensing, Stakeholder engagement, science communication

Contact details

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