Master Defense: Comparing the suitability of remote sensing and wildlife camera time series for deriving phenological metrics of understory vegetation in temperate forests of Upper Franconia, Bavaria

On September 18, Sarah Schneider will present her master thesis “Comparing the suitability of remote sensing and wildlife camera time series for deriving phenological metrics of understory vegetation in temperate forests of Upper Franconia, Bavaria” at 14:00 in seminar room 3, John-Skilton-Str. 4a.
From the abstract: The thesis explores the use of sensor harmonization between Sentinel-2 and Landsat data. This is used to monitor the phenological dynamics of understory vegetation in temperate deciduous forests in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany. The understory is a diverse and important layer within forest ecosystems and plays a significant role in nutrient cycling, species composition, and habitat provision. Despite its significance, the understorey has gotten very little attention in phenological study, with the majority of studies concentrating on the canopy layer. Changing environmental conditions, such as light availability and the effects of climate change, make it crucial to better understand the phenological patterns of understory vegetation. The research aims to evaluate how effectively harmonized multispectral remote sensing data can capture phenological patterns in understory vegetation and compare these observations to ground-based wildlife camera data. The goal is to assess the reliability of remote sensing for tracking seasonal changes in understory vegetation and understand how these tools can complement ground observation methods.
1st supervisor: Prof. Dr. Tobias Ullmann
2nd (external) supervisor: Dr. Hendrik Edelhoff (LWF)

read more news:

Learning Geospatial Tools in Practice: whitebox

Learning Geospatial Tools in Practice: whitebox

A central goal of the EAGLE Earth Observation programme is to equip students with a broad and practical understanding of the software tools used in geospatial analysis. Rather than focusing on a single platform, students are encouraged to explore different approaches,...

From Satellites to Snow Angels

From Satellites to Snow Angels

Our EAGLE M.Sc. students, coming from all over the world, are making the most of the short breaks between courses. Whether it’s spontaneous snow angel sessions or friendly snowball fights around the EORC, laughter and flying snow are never far away. These moments of...

Where Learning Meets Friendship

Where Learning Meets Friendship

At EAGLE, studying together is only part of the story. Our students are more than classmates — they’re hiking buddies, party companions, and the kind of people who show up to lectures with birthday cakes 🎂. Today was a perfect example. Our EAGLE student...

Snow Research at Schneefernerhaus, Zugspitze

Snow Research at Schneefernerhaus, Zugspitze

Recently, our team carried out another successful field campaign at the Schneefernerhaus research station on the Zugspitze in the Alps. Together with our EAGLE students, we collected UAS-based environmental data alongside detailed in-situ measurements of snow...