The ability of various ecosystems to perform vital functions such as biodiversity production, and water, energy and nutrient cycling depends on the ecosystem state, i.e. health. Ecosystem state assessment has been a topic of intense research, but has reached a point at which accurate large scale (e.g. regional to global scale) modelling and monitoring are hindered by limitations in conventional assessment methods such as direct field sampling, modelling from environmental drivers such as temperature, precipitation and available nutrients, and modelling from remote sensing data. The Ecosystem-Earth Observation (Eco-EO) research group at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa has highlighted the need in remote sensing research for an integrated sensing approach at the systems level. This perspective is based on the assumption that a modelling approach that exploits the strength of the various techniques (in situ environmental variables, direct field obse...