Many ecological questions require a multi-prong approach. Remote sensing provides data to answer ecological questions on multiple scales that would be near impossible to collect by hand. I show how remote sensing can be combined with ecophysiological modeling to detect locust outbreaks in Australian drylands. It is critical to understand the spatial scale of importance and the potential mismatch with the scale of data collection. Ecological data is noisy with many covariates partially masking responses. Recognizing the spatial structuring of the study system can reduce the noise around data, providing a more compelling story.
