Human activities on the Earth’s surface continue to accelerate, where future impacts in terms of biodiversity, climate and social-economic processes are still far from known. Monitoring and modelling these processes is increasingly carried out within a multidisciplinary approach where remote sensing and geo-information science plays a key role, providing processing and analysis of spatially explicit information at scales varying from the local to the global.
As a multidisciplinary group, the Laboratory for Geo-information Science and Remote Sensing links to various scientific fields for studying, better understanding and managing the human impact landscapes, ecosystem services and to support sustainable and climate-friendly future developments. Within this theme we focus on two main topics:
- Development of novel approaches for the assessment of land dynamics on multiple scales;
- Integration of earth observation data and products in interdisciplinary research, models and applications.
Dedicated research activities are ongoing in the real-time monitoring for agricultural management, tracking of forest carbon, land use change and greenhouse gas emissions, remote sensing support for ecological modelling, and mapping and assessment of soil properties.
PhD projects:
Other projects:
- HABISTAT: A classification framework for habitat status reporting with remote sensing methods. (2007-2011)
Recently finished projects:
- Mücher, C.A. (2009). Geo-spatial modelling and monitoring of European landscapes and habitats using remote sensing and field surveys. WUR Wageningen UR. Promotor(en): Schaepman, Prof.dr. M.E.; Schaminée, Prof dr J.H.J., co-promotor(en): Bunce, Prof dr R.G.H.
- Hadgu K. (2008). Temporal and spatial changes in land use patterns and biodiversity in relation to farm productivity at multiple scales in Tigray, Ethiopia. WUR Wageningen UR. Promotor(en): van Bruggen, Prof.dr. A.H.C., co-promotor(en): Rossing, Dr ir W.A.H., Kooistra, Dr ir L.
- Zurita Milla, R. (2008). Mapping and monitoring heterogeneous landscapes: spatial, spectral and temporal unmixing of MERIS data. WUR Wageningen UR. Promotor(en): Schaepman, Prof.dr. M.E., co-promotor(en): Clevers, Dr ir J.G.P.W.
Key publications:
- S. Lhermitte, J. Verbesselt, W.W. Verstraeten, P. Coppine (2011), A comparison of time series similarity measures for classification and change detection of ecosystem dynamics. Remote Sensing of Environment (in press).
- Thessler, S.; Kooistra, L.; Teye, F.; Huitu, H.; Bregt, A.K. (2011). Geosensors to support crop production: current applications and user requirements, Sensors 11 (7). - p. 6656 - 6684.
- Christian Hüttich, Martin Herold, Martin Wegmann, Anna Cord, Ben Strohbach, Christiane Schmullius, and Stefan Dech (2011), Assessing effects of temporal compositing and varying observation periods for large-area land-cover mapping in semi-arid ecosystems: Implications for global monitoring. Remote Sensing of Environment, Volume 115, Issue 10, Pages 2445-2459.
- Mücher, C.A.; Hennekes, S.M.; Bunce, R.G.H.; Schaminée, J.H.J.; Schaepman, M.E. (2009). Modelling the spatial distribution of Natura 2000 habitats across Europe. Landscape and Urban Planning 92 (2). - p. 148 - 159.
- Hadgu, K.M.; Rossing, W.A.H.; Kooistra, L.; Bruggen, A.H.C. van (2009). Spatial variation in biodiversity, soil degradation and productivity in agricultural landscapes in the highlands of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Food Security 1 (1). - p. 83 - 97.
- Zurita Milla, R.; Kaiser, G.; Clevers, J.G.P.W.; Schneider, W.; Schaepman, M.E. (2009). Downscaling time series of MERIS full resolution data to monitor vegetation seasonal dynamics. Remote Sensing of Environment 113 (9). - p. 1874 - 1885.
- Kooistra, L.; Wamelink, G.W.W.; Schaepman-Strub, G.; Schaepman, M.E.; Dobben, H.F. van; Aduaka, U.; Batelaan, O. (2008). Assessing and predicting biodiversity in a floodplain ecosystem: Assimilation of net primary prodution derived from imaging spectrometer data into a dynamic vegetation model. Remote Sensing of Environment 112 (5). - p. 2118 - 2130.