Aim
Aim of this course is to provide you with an overview on geographic processes of urbanization, the related demographic and structural changes of cities, and data analyses methods using remote sensing data for applications in urban geography.
Content
Humankind is within its largest migration ever: from rural areas into cities. The drivers of this global process of urbanization from demographic to economic and the related structural changes cities are facing will be discussed in this course. Remote sensing is one crucial data source in this dynamic transformation and its products are highly relevant for urban planning, as well as environmental management. Within this course different approaches and techniques are covered focusing on deriving relevant information about urbanized areas on different levels of detail. Uni-temporal-, multi-temporal-, and time series based image classification, segmentation, the analyses of point patterns, GIS analyses to assess spatial context and dependencies, as well as analyses in the 3D domain will be addressed in this course. This will be done providing and discussing example applications from different regions globally (e.g. urban sprawl analysis of megacities, the development of new dimensions of urban landscapes such as mega-regions, the rearrangement of business districts within the urban landscape, etc.). You will learn what capabilities Earth observation data, methods and products have for urban research and applications and how to design remote sensing based urban analysis, how to avoid caveats, troubleshoot errors and interpret the results.
General Course News and Updates
EAGLE Student Supports Savanna Monitoring in Kruger National Park
Our EAGLE M.Sc. student Lukas Fronzeck joined Luisa Pflumm, a former EAGLE and now PhD researcher at our Earth Observation Research Cluster (EORC), during fieldwork in Kruger National Park in South Africa. The field campaign forms part of Luisa’s PhD project...
![FW: [EORC Talk] Pathways towards a Healthy City – 10 March 2026, 03 pm](https://eagle-science.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/image001.jpg)
FW: [EORC Talk] Pathways towards a Healthy City – 10 March 2026, 03 pm
Dear colleagues and EAGLE students, This is a quick reminder to attend today’s and tomorrow’s EORC Talks, both at 3 p.m. sharp. TODAY 📍 What: EORC Talk on “Pathways towards a Healthy City” (Blog) 📍 Who: Christian Werthmann and Christian Corral...
EAGLE Students Calibrate Thermal Sensors for Fire Mapping in Kruger National Park
Fieldwork, international collaboration, and hands-on sensor calibration – three EAGLE M.Sc. students recently experienced all of this during their internship in Kruger National Park in South Africa. Clemens, Sebastian, and Lukas are currently supporting an ongoing...
EAGLE Innolab Presentation: “From UAV to Satellite: Fractional Snow Cover Estimation at Sentinel-2 Resolution”
On March 03, 2026, Lutz Kleemann will present his Innolab results on "From UAV to Satellite: Fractional Snow Cover Estimation at Sentinel-2 Resolution" at 12:00 in seminar room 3, John-Skilton-Str. 4a. From the abstract: Fractional Snow Cover (FSC) estimation is an...
EAGLE Internship Presentation “Stream flow assessment and Irrigation demand in Central Asia (Aral Sea)”
On February 05, 2026, Anugraha Das will present her internship results on " Stream flow assessment and Irrigation demand in Central Asia (Aral Sea )" at 12:00 in seminar room 3, John-Skilton-Str. 4a. From the abstract: This presentation assesses streamflow dynamics...
EAGLE Internship Presentation “Recommended Practices for Urban Flood Mapping in Emergency Response”
On February 10, 2026, Laura Obrecht will present her internship results on " Recommended Practices for Urban Flood Mapping in Emergency Response" at 12:00 in seminar room 3, John-Skilton-Str. 4a.type of presentation: From the abstract: Flood detection in urban...
EAGLE Internship Presentation ” Internship on Svalbard”
On February 24, 2026, Leonie Sonntag and Jannis Midasch will present their internship results on " Internship on Svalbard" at 13:00 in seminar room 3, John-Skilton-Str. 4a. From the abstract: During March and April 2025, the two EAGLE students Leonie Sonntag and...
Across Cohorts and Borders: EAGLE Students Celebrate the Winter Term Together
As the winter term ends, the international students of our EAGLE M.Sc. programme gathered for an evening that was less about deadlines and data and more about community. After months of intensive coursework and research, the celebration offered a warm pause in their...
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,...
Mapping Disasters from Space: Inside the EAGLE MSc Course on Natural Hazards
From raging wildfires to devastating floods, natural hazards are becoming more frequent, more intense, and harder to predict. In this rapidly changing world, the ability to understand disasters as they unfold is no longer optional—it’s essential. This is exactly where...