Lecturer
Jakob Schwalb-Willmann
ECTS
5 ECTS
Aim
In this lecture you will gain a broad overview of the applications of remote sensing. Examples from different disciplines and applied Earth Observation projects will provide your with a comprehensive understanding of if, where and how remote sensing can contribute to qualitative and quantitative assessments of the cryosphere, forest ecosystems, agro-ecosystems, the coastal zone and urban ecosystems; amongst others. We will evaluate the potential of passive and active sensor systems and adress the advantages and shortcomings of existing sensors in the optical / mutlsispectral, thermal and microwave domain.
Content
This lecture provides knowledge on applications of Earth Observation with a focus on remote sensing of the land surface. Which research questions of different disciplines can be answered by the means of Earth Observation? What are the main approaches? The module links up remote sensing measurements to geo- and biophysical parameters required for further geoanalysis. Commonly used methodological approaches for the derivation of the different parameters are presented. Examples include amongst others applications in geography, environmental planning, ecology, biology, oceanology, soil science, geology, atmospheric science, but also e.g. pollution control (monitoring) and natural resource management. In addition, the module outlines selected examples, how remote sensing technology can be transferred to the workplace of professionals also beyond science, e.g. via the use of geoinformation systems.
General Course News and Updates
MSc handed in on impact of remote sensing for biodiversity monitoring
Anna Stephanie handed in her MSc thesis on “Impact of remote sensing characteristics for biodiversity monitoring”. Very impressive study on multi-scale, multi-model and multi-variable analysis of mangroves in Myanmar. She was supervised by Martin Wegmann. While...
MSc handed in on object-oriented classification of historical maps for ecosystem services
Yrneh Ulloa handed in her MSc “Land change in the Main catchment with an Object Based approach using eCognition” within GCE which dealt with classifying landcover in historical maps (1810+) automatically using object oriented approaches. She was supervised by Martin...
MSc: Analysis of Airborne LiDAR Data for Deriving Terrain and Surface Models
The M.Sc thesis by Raja Ram Aryal has been handed in (supervision of Dr. Hooman Latifi and Prof. Michael Hahn). The thesis focused on a comparative study on the variations of an adaptive TIN ground filtering algorithm to extract DTM from discrete LiDAR point cloud...
MSc: predicting forest understory canopy cover
The M.Sc thesis by Bastian Schumann focused on a LiDAR-based approach to combine structural metrics and forest habitat information for causal and predictive models of under-story canopy cover. The data base used consisted of a bi-temporal LiDAR dataset as well as two...
Explore species-environment interaction
Analyzing species-environment interaction is feasible using various data and method. An increasing technology is the tracking of animals and especially its linkage to remote sensing, as covered in AniMove.org. However, with this technology new challenges have to be...
MSc by Asja Bernd: “Mind the Gap: A Global Analysis of Grassland Fragmentation using MODIS Land Cover Data”
The MSc thesis by Asja Bernd titled “Mind the Gap: A Global Analysis of Grassland Fragmentation using MODIS Land Cover Data” is handed in. Very interesting results on global grassland fragmentation. Read the abstract:Around the world, grassland and savannah...
MSc on deforestation in Myanmar and its drivers
The MSc by Andrea Hess “Deforestation in Myanmar – what can we say about causes?” has been handed in. It has been supervised by Peter Leimgruber (Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute) and Martin Wegmann. Deforestation in the tropics is a global issue. Tropical...
Deployment of a multi-classifier approach to improve land cover classification accuracy
This study will examine whether the application of hybrid classifiers increases the classification accuracy in comparison to a single classifier. A combination between parametric and non-parametric classifiers will be applied and their performance will be assessed....
Stereo photogrammetry for multi-temporal surface models based on aerial imagery
The data provided by aerial imagery are amongst the oldest sources of spatially explicit information for modern-time environmental management. These data are often captured over landscape-level domains using overlapping flight stripes to enable stereo photogrammetric...
Estimation of actual evapotranspiration in irrigation agricultural area of Uzbekistan using high resolution multi-frequent synthetic remote sensing data
Actual evapotranspiration (ETact) is an essential component of the water balance and its determination for large areas is difficult on regional scale and can be explored within an innovation laboratory. The use of remote sensing data to determine ETact is particularly...