Projects
Research Projects of the Geomatics Lab
CarBioCial: Carbon sequestration, biodiversity and social structures in Southern Amazonia.
The CarBioCial project is investigating viable carbon-optimized land management strategies maintaining ecosystem services under changing climate conditions in the Southern Amazon. This BMBF-funded research project connects 12 working groups from 17 universities and research institutes in Brazil, Germany and Austria. Our working group focuses on developing and applying a landscape-scale analysis approaches integrating remote sensing and spatial modelling techniques. Overall, our spatiotemporal results support deepening our knowledge on how to mitigate existing and prevent future land use conflicts. Detailed information is available at http://www.carbiocial.de/
DHAKA-INNOVATE
Project of a Berlin-Bielefeld Consortium to the DFG Priority Programme 1233 Megacities: Informal Dynamics of Global Change
DHAKA-INNOVATE is centred around the informal settlements of Dhaka and focuses on 3 interwoven topics of vital relevance for the future development of the Mega-City of Dhaka, Bangladesh: Firstly, socioeconomic development, limitations, and improvement strategies; secondly, climatologic and air pollution effects from local to global scale; thirdly, public health issues related to socioeconomics, climate and air pollution. The research is undertaken in a spatially explicit way, linked in with remote sensing derived meta-indicators, and integrated via GIS-based modelling approaches.
EnMap-Box - Development of a software interface for the processing and analysis of EnMAP satellite imagery
EnMAP (Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program) is a German hyperspectral satellite mission providing high quality hyperspectral image data on a timely and frequent basis. The main objective is to investigate a wide range of ecosystem parameters encompassing agriculture, forestry, soil and geological environments, coastal zones and inland waters.
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EnMAP Core Science Team: Natural Ecosystems and Ecosystem Transitions
contract period PHASE I: 01/2010 - 05/2013; PHASE II: 06/2013 - 05/2016
The Geomatics Lab of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin is a member of the EnMAP Core Science Team within the EnMAP Science Program, which has the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences as Scientific PI. It is thus involved in cutting edge research on hyperspectral applications with EnMAP data.
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FOMO - Remote sensing of the forest transition and its ecosystem impacts in mountain environments
FOMO aims at improving remote sensing based methods for mapping forest changes (disturbance, recovery, replacement, re-growth) in mountainous regions. Globally, different regions are undergoing net forest decline, while others are experiencing a net increase in forest cover ("forest transition"). Thus, we investigate three study areas: Bhutan in the Himalayas, Ecuador in the Andes, and the Carpathian mountain range in Eastern Europe – all regions with a potential forest cover increase these days. The Geomatics Lab leads the large area mapping workpackage, which is closely linked with research on normalizing the effect of rugged topography on the remotely sensed signal. The Fomo project ultimately aims at improving methods to map ecosystem services provision from remote sensing data. More information can be found at http://www.globallandproject.org/071_Lambin.shtml
I-REDD+: Impacts of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and Enhancing Carbon Stocks
The goal of I-REDD+ is to obtain an improved understanding of how the implementation of REDD+ mechanisms may 1) reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and maintain or enhance existing stocks of carbon in vegetation and soil of various land cover types; 2) impact livelihoods and welfare of local farming communities and differences between communities; 3) impact biodiversity conservation, and 4) provide a realistic framework for monitoring, reporting and verification of REDD+, including the importance of governance and accountability at multiple levels. The project has a regional focus in the uplands of Southeast Asia, specifically in the ‘Heart of Borneo’, Indonesia, and in the northern parts of Lao PDR and Vietnam, and Yunnan in Southwest China.
The Geomatics group at Humboldt-University of Berlin contributes to I-REDD+ by developing remote sensing methods and data sets to support monitoring of deforestation and forest degradation, and associated carbon flux in Southeast Asia. To overcome existing challenges in monitoring vegetation dynamics in tropical forests, we use an integrated approach across multiple sensors and spatial-temporal scales. The core research areas focus on detecting long-term trends in forest degradation, land use, and land-use intensities using dense Landsat time series, integration of optical and radar (SAR) data, and the potential of hyperspectral remote sensing in light of the up-coming EnMap mission.
I-REDD+ is an international, interdisciplinary team with researchers and professionals from 9 countries funded by the 7th Framework Program of the European Commission.
Remote sensing of land degradation in arid and semi-arid environment
We focus on investigating land degradation in arid and semi-arid Inner Mongolia based on remote sensing. Vegetation trends in NDVI products from different sensors are compared to better understand their sensitivity for analyzing land use/land cover changes and modifications. We ultimately will employ dense time series of satellite imagery to investigate the effectiveness of China’s ecological restoration policies and programs for combating land degradation in Inner Mongolia. This project is funded by the China Scholarship Council.
