Research within the Laboratory of Geo-Information Science and Remote Sensing (GRS) has been fed from a steadily growth of the geo-information market. Although this market initially was driven by separately evolving strategies in separate segments, nowadays geo-information science has become a multidisciplinary and collaborative scientific environment. This trend is reflected in the activities of the GRS-group. Research always has a fundamental character, but with a clear link to the Wageningen application fields. Research activities include spatial data infrastructures, spatial data modelling, geo-visualization, quantitative remote sensing, and national, European and global scale land cover/use mapping and monitoring.  Staff is working in collaboration with various national and international research institutions and organizations, including the government and private sectors to provide research in geo-information science in order to support policy development and the design and management of rural areas at various scale levels.

Main fields of research activities:

• Remote Sensing Science
  This field deals with quantitative, physical and statistical based retrieval of land surface parameters relevant for earth system modelling with special focus on spectrodirectional imaging.
   
• Spatial Data Infrastructure & Sensors
  This field of research focuses on two major connected themes spatial data infrastructures and geosensor networks.
   
• Integrated Land Monitoring
  This field deals with the human impact on the Earth’s surface in terms of biodiversity, climate and social-economic processes.
    
• Society, Space and Decision
  This field of research focuses on two major themes. The first theme is a physically and statistically oriented theme "spatial analysis". The other theme aims at society oriented research within the theme "Geo-Information (GI) and society".  
   
• Global context & societal benefits