06/2021 - 06/2023

Copernicus User Uptake in Africa via technical support in the field of Disaster Management and Disaster Risk Reduction

As an action within the Framework Partnership Agreement on Copernicus User Uptake⁴, Sentinels-4-African-DRR aims to strengthen the use of Copernicus data and services in Africa in the fields of disaster management and disaster risk reduction by different user groups. As a subcontractor of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), ZFL contributes to this action by providing scientific and technical expertise for implementing the project activities summarized below. Additionally, the close collaboration between the ZFL and the UN-SPIDER office in Bonn is used to build on existing networks with African Earth observation users and disaster management authorities from which mutual benefits can be achieved. The project has a runtime from July 2021 to July 2023. Some of the main activities of the project are:

Researching, collecting, and structuring information, summaries, and materials on Copernicus and its different components (datasets, services)
Building a Network of contacts including (potential) Copernicus users from different types of user groups in several African countries.
Assessing User requirements regarding Copernicus through interviews, surveys, and exchange at organized events such as UN-Spider Expert Meetings with the aforementioned contacts and user groups.
Developing training materials such as online brochures, online tutorials, and video tutorials on different aspects of Copernicus applications for African users.
Organizing two virtual (if possible, in-person) training events attached to UN-SPIDER Expert Meetings. 2-3 additional virtual training events are also foreseen.
Raising awareness for the project and the generated materials and offers through presentations at different events.
Continuous evaluation and adjustment of the new training materials using feedback from the users and our contacts.
Making all developed materials available through the UN-SPIDER Knowledge Portal⁵ and other relevant channels.

Project Team.

Team ZFL

Prof. Dr. Klaus Greve

Adrian Strauch

Jonas Schreier

Victor Korir

Timo Matheis

Team DLR

Jens Danzeglocke

03/2020 - 02/2023

Scientific background
It is generally established that through the intensification of fertilization and mowing practices in grasslands, the provision of “feed production” as ecosystem service increases, but at the cost of biodiversity and other ecosystem functions. Remote sensing is useful to map certain plant traits and classify the vegetation into functional groups at coarse scales. However, due to the spatial discrepancies between ecological processes and management units in coupled social-ecological systems, we still have a limited understanding of the effects of land use on the relationship between biodiversity – ecosystem functions – and ecosystem services. For instance, while field ecologists measure traits at the species scale, satellites measure traits at pixel scale. Thus, pixels represent inter-pixel variance instead of inter-specific variance. Also, biodiversity and ecosystem functions can vary in space and time with a large number of drivers (e.g. succession stages, climatic gradients and variability, soil properties, land use, etc.) making extrapolations challenging.

Setting:
The SeBAS (Sensing Biodiversity Across Scales) project is part of the Biodivesity Exploratories, a German Science Foundation funded research project (DFG Priority Programme 1374) with the objective of understanding of the relationship between biodiversity of different taxa and levels, the role of land use and management for biodiversity, and the role of biodiversity in ecosystem processes. The study is developed in three sites across Germany, covering different land use intensity and environmental gradients: the Biosphere Reserve, Schorfheide-Chorin in the State of Brandenburg, the National Park Hainich and its surroundings in the State of Thuringia, and the  Biosphere Reserve Schwäbische Alb in the State of Baden-Württemberg. The three exploratories serve as open research platform for multiple biodiversity and ecosystem research groups, and have been operating since 2006.

Goal
In SeBAS, we aim to improve the mechanistic understanding of the effects of land use on the interplay between biodiversity – ecosystem functions – and ecosystem services. For that, we are analyzing the relationships between functional and structural diversity and the ecosystem service of forage production, and their temporal variation for three spatial scales (plot, farm and landscape). We will achieve this by combining plot-based ecological and remote sensing research on land use intensity and 5 Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs): Above Ground Biomass (AGB), Above Net Primary Productivity (ANPP), Leaf Area Index (LAI), plant phenology and functional diversity.

Methodology
The data collected from the 5 EBVs during a full annual cycle is allowing us to quantify forage production along with functional composition and diversity across the season at sub-plot level. At the same time and in collaboration with Core-3, we are retrieving multispectral and microwave data from UAVs and multiple satellites (Sentinel-1 & 2, Landsat-8, MODIS and PlanetScope). Following a multi-scale sampling and upscaling strategy we are using machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms to scale up the field information to the satellite pixels, and to a landscape scale.

Hypothesis
We hypothesize that (i) the five EBVs can be derived on multiple spatial scales using multimodal satellite image time series data; and that (ii) the effects of land use on the relationship of biodiversity to ecosystem functions and services vary across spatial scales. Here, the functional and structural diversity is likely to play a key role in the level and temporal stability of feed production.

Project Team:
Dr. Javier Muro - Center for Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces(ZFL), University of Bonn

Prof. Dr. Anja Linstädter - University of Potsdam

10/2018 - 03/2020

• Project PI
  Dr. Valerie Graw
• The project SE4Amazonian aims at the delivering of sustainable energy sources to those who need it the most and are usually left behind national electrification plans. The indigenous communities of the Ecuadorian Amazon often face high levels of isolation, marginalization, and a lack of access to basic services which represents also a cause and constrain for data collection in these areas. Thereby, support to integrate the communities in decision making on development plans is needed.
  In SE4Amazonian remote sensing analysis is combined with socio-economic information and participatory mapping to determine the best way to provide clean energy to those who are left behind. Electricity is the gateway to foster other basic services that trigger rural development, such as having light during the night for reading or available energy for charging devices that enable access to information and communication. Working closely with indigenous communities the project is mapping the potentials and needs of clean renewable energy provision for isolated areas. Local technicians and indigenous people are directly involved in the development which will contribute to the success of the initiative. During all project activities it is ensured that sensitive information about involved communities is secured and their rights and wishes respected at all times.
  The project was selected as a finalist and won with 11 other project activities the call for ideas to improve the production, management, and use of data in the two thematic areas of “Leave No One Behind” and “the environment” in 2018 by the World Bank´s Development Data group together with the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data and is funded by the World Bank Trust Fund for Statistical Capacity Building.
  For more information on the call and funded project activities please click here. ⁶
• At ZFL we are working with our Ecuadorian partners of Tratrural and AmazonGISnet.
  Team ZFL:
  Dr. Valerie Graw
  Javier Muro
  Team Tratrural:
  Dr. José Jara
  Esteban Calderón
  Team AmazonGISnet:
  Richard Resl
  Leo Zurita
  If you have any questions to the project please email to: valerie.graw@uni-bonn.de
• This Participatory Mapping to Support Sustainable Energy for All in the Amazon, is supported by the World Bank’s Trust Fund for Statistical Capacity Building (TFSCB) with financing from the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID), the Government of Korea, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Ireland.

08/2017 - 12/2020

• The goal of the project GlobeDrought⁷ is to develop, with stakeholder support, a web-based information system to comprehensively characterize droughts and their impacts (see framework proposal). The drought information system is to provide information on drought occurrence (drought hazard) and drought impacts/risks for a historical time period with good data availability (ca. 2003-2015) at the global scale and for selected regions. In addition, also globally and for selected regions, it will integrate and experimental drought early warning system, which as prototype will enable a drought monitoring to near-real time and will simulate a probabilistic drought forecast. The goals of the sub-project of University of Bonn are to characterize drought hazard by analyzing precipitation records (meteorological drought hazard, UB-IGG), crop modelling (agronomic drought hazard, UB-INRES), total water storage changes derived from GRACE gravity measurements (hydrological drought hazard, UB-IGG) as well as by deriving drought indices using remote sensing (UB-ZFL). Drought hazard will be quantified at global extent and, with more detail, for selected drought affected regions like Southern Africa. Another scientific objective is the analysis of drought impacts on international trade flows (UB-INRES). UB-INRES is also responsible for the coordination of the GlobeDrought project. Therefore, additional administrative-technical objectives are to coordinate the collaboration between project partners, stakeholders and users of the drought information system which will be developed in co-design. A focus of the activities will be on the improvement of the simulation results of the hydrological model WaterGAP by assimilation of total water storage changes derived from GRACE gravity measurements (UB-IGG in collaboration with University of Frankfurt). Likewise, the simulation results of the crop model solution SIMPLACE <LINTUL5, DRUNIR, CanopyT> will be improved by assimilation of remotely sensed land use, leaf area index and surface temperature data (UB-INRES, UB-ZFL). For the selected regions, the models WaterGAP and SIMPLACE will be coupled to 1) improve the modeling of hydrological drought hazard by WaterGAP and 2) to improve crop yields and water use simualted by SIMPLACE for irrigated crops by using information for available irrigation wate rresources provided by WaterGAP (collaboration with AG Döll, University of Frankfurt). The results of global and regional simulations will become essential component of the drought information system which will be developed jointly with stakeholder and user support.
• Team at ZFL
  Dr. Olena Dubovyk (Principle Investigator)
  Gohar Ghazaryn
  Dr. Javier González
  Jonas Schreier
• GlobeDrought is an integrat part of the “Global Resource Water (GROW)” program in the framework program FONA (Research for Sustainable Development) funded by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research.

06/2017 – 06/2020

• Project PI
  Dr. Oumarou Ouédraogo, Laboratory of Plant Biology and Ecology, University of Ouagadougou
• Project aim
  West African rangelands are invaded by Senna obtusifolia, a non-palatable and non-nodulating annual legume. Its invasion has negative ecological and economic impacts in Sahelian countries. Despite its growing impact and its expansion into the Sudanian zone, the reasons for its recent invasion as well as consequences for local ecosystems and livelihoods are poorly understood. This project aims to identify environmental drivers that promote the expansion of S. obtusifolia, to determine effects of S. obtusifolia invasion on ecosystem functions and services, to examine perceptions of local land-users on S. obtusifolia expansion and their respective adaptation strategies, and to propose potential solutions and best-practices to control the invasion of S. obtusifolia and its negative impacts on rangelands. We will collect ecological data along a steep climatic gradient, contrasting sites with various levels of invasion. A greenhouse experiment will be implemented to elucidate the local adaptation rates of S. obtusifolia. To assess effects of S. obtusifolia invasion on forage provision, we will apply field spectroscopy. Interviews will be used to explore the ecological knowledge of rural populations, related to local management strategies applied to control S. obtusifolia. This project will render an improved scientific knowledge on causes and effects of S. obtusifolia invasion. Moreover, a national risk map of S. obtusifolia invasion, technical reports and a manual of best practices to control land invasion by S. obtusifolia will be provided to stakeholders.
• Study areas
  Sudanian and Sahelian zone of Burkina Faso, West Africa
• Staff
  German Host: PD Dr. Anja Linstädter; University of Cologne
  African Mentor: Prof. Dr. Adjima Thiombiano, University Ouaga
  German Mentor: Prof. Dr. Sebastian Schmidtlein, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
  German Postdoctoral Fellow: Jessica Ferner, University of Bonn
• Cooperation partners
  Germany: Prof. Dr. Oliver Bossdorf, Institute of Evolution & Ecology, University of Tübingen Prof. Dr. Eva Schlecht, Animal Husbandry in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Göttingen
  West Africa: Dr. Gabin Korbéogo, Department of Sociology, University of Ouagadougou
• Funding agency
  Volkswagen Foundation (Knowledge for Tomorrow – Cooperative Research Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa)

06/2017 – 06/2020

• Project summary
  International conventions that dedicate themselves to the protection of wetlands, such as the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands or the Convention on Biological Diversity, urgently need exact and reliable data that are recorded and validated using a standardized methodology, to be able to assess the condition and development of these fragile ecosystems globally. An improvement of national monitoring systems hence is a key requirement for an improvement of global knowledge on wetlands. In DeMo-Wetlands, the East African state Rwanda is applied as example for the development of an automated satellite-based wetlands detection and monitoring system. A multi-satellite and multi-temporal approach for a static wetland detection and dynamic mapping of wetland characteristics and wetland changes by the usage of state-of-the-art satellite sensors of the ESA Sentinel-Programme and other Copernicus datasets is envisaged. The DeMo-Wetlands project can provide a significant contribution to international conventions supporting a sustainable use of wetlands.
• Project team
  Adrian Strauch (ZFL)
  Dr. Konrad Hentze (RSRG)
  Dr. Jonas Franke (RSS)
  Natalie Cornish (RSS)
  Stefan Kirmaier (RSS)
• Funding agency
  DeMo-Wetlands (FKZ 50EE1537) is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

09/2016 - 12/2018

• Project aim
  EvIDENz (Earth Observation based information products for drought risk reduction on the national level) is carried out by ZFL in collaboration with UNU-EHS and UN-SPIDER. Droughts duration and their intensity have generally increased. Especially agricultural land is endangered which has direct consequences food security, health and the economic situation of a country. Using South Africa and Ukraine as case study countries which have been severely affected by drought events in the last century the project develops and tests new earth observation based methods according to the defined SFDRR requirements for drought risk reduction. Drought hazard monitoring on the national level is carried out using a combination of different sensors and highlighting the use of the new Sentinel missions. Sentinel data provide free optical and radar data in high resolution which is an advantage especially for the generation and use of earth observation based information products in low income and low-middle income countries. By applying the newly developed methods and processes information products are provided which contribute to national monitoring systems in the field of drought risk and agriculture. Use and transferability to other low-income and lower-middle income countries is one of the project´s objectives. Risk information products serve as early warning information and give a key understanding for areas and people at risk during a drought event.
• Team at ZFL
  Dr. Olena Dubovyk (Principle Investigator)
  Dr. Valerie Graw
  Dr. Javier González
  Ayman Abdel-Hamid
  Gohar Gharzaryan
  Jonas Schreier
  Carlos García Lanchares
• Team at UNU-EHS
  Dr. Yvonne Walz
  Karen Dall
• Team at UN-SPIDER
  Dr. Joachim Post
• Funding Agency
  ‘Earth observation-based information products for drought risk on a national basis’ (EViDENz) is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi; grant No 50EE1541).

06/2015 - 06/2018

• Project PI
  Dr. Frank Thonfeld
• Project aim
  To develop a wetland observation and information service based on satellite data combined with other data sources to address the needs of users and stakeholders on different levels from local to global, and addressing the needs of European and global policy frameworks and conventions like the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
  The ZFL is responsible for the land use and land cover change and land surface temperature components of the project as well as coordinating the satellite data acquisition and the integration of the service into the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).
• Study areas
  Europe, Africa, Asia, Global
• Staff
  Dr. Frank Thonfeld (PI)
  Adrian Strauch
  Javier Muro
• Project Partners / Consortium
  Jena-Optronik GmbH (Germany),  TerraSphere Imaging & GIS b.v. (Netherlands), Remote Sensing Solutions GmbH (Germany), Brockmann Geomatics Sweden AB (Sweden), Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena (Germany), University of Malaga - European Topic Centre on Spatial Information and Analysis (Spain), Mouseio Goulandri Fysikis Istorias /Greek Biotope Wetland Centre (Greece), Foundation Tour du Valat (France), Unité Technique du SEMIDE (France), Wetlands International (Netherlands), IUCN European Union Representative Office (Belgium), University of Bonn (Germany).
• Funding agency
  This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 642088.

06/2015 - 01/2016

• Project Coordination
  Dr. Olena Dubovyk
• Project summary
  Bush encroachment is currently one of the most challenging land degradation problems in Africa. This process is mainly present in arid and semi-arid systems such as moist savannas and woodlands, drylands and deserts as well as grasslands. Causes for bush encroachment can be found on biophysical and socio-economic sides as referring to a process of land degradation.
  In BushAfrica project, we aim to develop a Remote Sensing and GIS based methodology to assess: (i) current extent of bush encroached areas across African continent and (ii) to identify areas which are more susceptible for bush encroachment in the future.
  The study is the research collaboration between the Center for Development Research (ZEF) and Centre for Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces (ZFL), University of Bonn. The wider goal of the project collaboration is to provide spatial information to support national and international policies promoting technological and institutional innovations in bioenergy, and more broadly in decentralized energy options in developing countries using a as an example African countries.
• Study areas
  Africa
• Staff
  Dr. Olena Dubovyk (project coordinator)
  Prof. Dr. Menz
  Dr. Valerie Graw
  Carsten Oldenburg
• Cooperation partners
  Center for Development Research (ZEF)
  International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
• Funding agency
  Center for Development Research via BMZ

2013 - 2016

• Project PI
  PD Dr. Jürgen Schellberg   ⁸
• Project aim
  Within the agricultural landscapes of Limpopo Province, the Limpopo Living Landscapes project aims to understand and predict the combined effects of land use and climate change processes on (i) rangeland vegetation (ii) unique biodiversity and (iii) rural livelihoods and to identify farm and policy level intervention strategies that support sustainable rural livelihoods and the natural resource base on which these people depend.
  The project will make detailed studies along two transects (Thohoyandou to Giyani and Turfloop to Phalabora) which provide a representative sample of climate, vegetation, soils, landuse and communities. The methodologies will include socio-economic assessment of the current and future livelihood options for rural communities, on-farm/on-station experimentation and measurement in agricultural systems with a focus on understanding crop and rangeland productivity under highly variable climates and the use of remote sensing and predictive modelling tools to upscale and extrapolate. By working within communities along these transects, scenarios will be developed participatively that explore better land management options under current and future climate scenarios.
  Subproject 3: This sub-project will focus on the state of rural rangelands, its ability to provide ecosystem services and vulnerability under future global change which includes anthropogenic land transformation. The dimension of the physical and biological environment will be captured by surveys, ground truth measurements and remote sensing, a technology that will allow coverage of spatio-temporal variation along climatic and pedological gradients. The coupling of dynamic growth models with remotely sensed information on vegetation will enable us to make predictions on current and future land use patterns, hot spots and episodic events of degradation and its response to a wider range of climate scenarios. The link between socio-economic and ecological aspects will be at the centre of our research, including feedbacks of management to vegetation state and productivity. Project activities on GIS and remote sensing will be coordinated with SP 1 for the benefit of common processing and interpretation of spatial data, integration of dynamic modeling of vegetation phenology and its incorporation of algorithms into the dynamic global vegetation model (DGVM).
• Study areas
  Limpopo Province, Republic of South Africa
• Staff
  PD Dr. Jürgen Schellberg
  Dr. Olena Dubovyk
  Andreas Tewes
• Cooperation partners
  Universities in South Africa (Witwatersrand, Venda and Limpopo) and Germany (Göttingen, Frankfurt and Cologne)
• Funding agency
  Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

Developing methods to support UN mandate
2013

• Project PI
  Sven Nussbaum (GIUB)
• Project aim
  The aim of this task is to develop methods, tools and scientific working papers which will support the mandate of the United Nations. This includes GIS, geoprocessing, object-based image analysis and change detection approaches.
• Study areas
  various around the world
• Staff
  Sven Nussbaum
  Julia Tüshaus
• Cooperation partners
  United Nations, Research Center Jülich
• Funding agency
  UN

Detecting the response of plant functional traits to nutrient status in grassland by spectral reflectance measurements
2012 - 2014

• Project PI
  PD. Dr. Jürgen Schellberg ⁸  
• Project aim
  The challenge of present grassland research is to better understand the impact of environmental conditions and management on sward properties and productivity and, at the same time, to consider the impact of production on the ecosystem. Hence, knowledge is required to understand how managed grassland communities respond to manipulation by humans and animals and how this response can be detected non-destructively.
  In mixed grassland swards, the response of plants to manipulation can be interpreted by a new approach that is based on the expression of functional traits, often irrespective of floristic composition. It is known that traits affect spectral properties as measured above the canopy. The objective of the project is to learn how spectral reflectance signatures must be interpreted to identify functional traits of grassland communities along a gradient of soil nutrient content.
  Throughout two years, optical properties of canopy in the Rengen Grassland Experiment (since 1941) will be measured with a crane mounted high resolution spectrometer. Sophisticated spectral analyses will be applied to derive functional relations between spectral response and plant traits as affected by soil nutrient status. In the second and third year, the derived mathematical model describing the relationship between community functional traits and spectral reflectance will be validated on grassland fields elsewhere in Germany.
• Study areas
  Rengen
• Staff
  PD Dr. Jürgen Schellberg
  Marian Vittek
• Funding agency
  DFG
• Further information
  RGE project web page⁹

11/2011 - 05/2012

• Project management in Bonn
  Prof. Dr. Gunter Menz    
• Project aim
  The ZFL performs a scientific soundness review of the high resolution grassland layer produced within geoland2.
• Study areas
  Europe
• Staff
  Dipl.-Geogr. Frauke Becker (Junior Researcher)
  Prof. Gunter Menz (subproject coordinator)
• Cooperation partners
  EARSeL
  geoland2
• Funding agency
  ZFL is subcontractor of EARSeL and geoland2. The research has received funding from the European Community‘s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement No. 263479.
• Further information
  geoland2 webpage¹⁰

02/2011 - 01/2014

• Project PI
  Prof. Dr. Sebastian Schmidtlein    
• Project aim
  It is evident that human impact is one of the most important factors in shaping vegetation patterns all over the world. Even though often aiming at an improvement of human life conditions, this impact can be utterly devastating in terms of natural resources. Our research aims at a better understanding of the tight links between human land use and vegetation responses - knowledge of crucial importance for developing sustainable land-use practices.
  Currently, the working group is enganged in the West African Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL). This joint project aims at strengthening the research infrastructure and capacity in West Africa related to climate change. It pools the expertise of ten West African countries and Germany. Within this framework our group focuses on the ecological state of rangelands and interactions between management practices, climate and provision of ecosystem services.
• Run time
  February 2011 - January 2014
• Study areas
  West-Africa (Ghana)
• Staff
  Jessica Ferner (PhD student)
  Kristijan Čanak
  Reginald Guuroh (PhD student)
• Cooperation partners
  ZEF
  Rangeland Ecology Group, Cologne
• Funding agency
  Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
• Further information
  WASCAL web page¹¹

02/2011 - 01/2014

• Project PI
  Prof. Dr. Sebastian Schmidtlein    
• Project aim
  Within the project msave we aim to develop novel methods for the monitoring of vegetation using satellite remote sensing. The project focuses on the use of data gathered at multiple times of the year (“multi-season”) and on the joint use of different sensors (radar, optical). The methods are to take explicit account of the fact that the appearance of even one and the same type of vegetation is never identical at different sites and at different times. This variability is both a curse and a blessing for the differentiation of vegetation and must be addressed anyway. The evaluation of methods is based on examples from nature conservation and agriculture.
  The interdisciplinary research team includes geographers, ecologists, engineers, and physicists from the universities of Bonn (project lead), Osnabrück, and Würzburg. Funding is provided by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology through the German Space Agency.
• Run time
  February 2011 - January 2014
• Study areas
  Bavaria
  Brandenburg
  Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
• Staff
  Stefanie Stenzel (PhD student)
  Hannes Feilhauer (Postdoc)
  Prof. Sebastian Schmidtlein (PI)
• Cooperation partners
  University of Würzburg
  University of Osnabrück
• Funding agency
  DLR/BMWi (FKZ 50EE1032, 50EE1033, 50EE1034)
  Gefördert von der Raumfahrt-Agentur des Deutschen Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. mit Mitteln Bundesministeriiums für Wirtschaft und Technologie aufgrund eines Beschlusses des Deutschen Bundestages unter den Förderkennzeichen FKZ 50EE1032, 50EE1033, 50EE1034.

01/2011 - 12/2011

• Project management in Bonn
  Prof. Dr. Gunter Menz   
• Project aim
  Contribution to the Global Wetlands Observing system (G-WOS)
  The GlobWetland II project aims at developing a G-WOS pilot information system. The tasks of the project comprise satellite image pre-processing, land use/land cover classification, change detection, wetlands indicator computation, post-processing on attribute tables, map layout definition, and web-GIS funcionality.
  ZFL contributes to change detection methodology
  The ZFL (subcontractor of Jena-Optronik) defines the change detection methodology. Analysis of predefined core test sites will help to confirm a transferable methodology.
• Study areas
  Ramsar sites located less than 100km from the Mediterranean coast, Southern and Eastern Mediterranean countries
• Staff
  Dipl.-Geogr. Antje Hecheltjen
  Dipl.-Geogr. Frank Thonfeld
  Prof. Gunter Menz (subproject coordinator)
• Cooperation partners
  Jena-Optronik GmbH, Germany (project coordination)
  Keyobs, Belgium
  DLR-DFD, Germany
  EKBY, Greece
  Terra-Sphere, Netherlands
  I-MAGE Consult, Belgium
• Funding agency
  European Space Agency (ESA), Data User Element DUE

12/2010 - 11/2013

• Project Management
  Prof. Dr. Sebastian Schmidtlein    
• Project aim
  The project is exploring biodiversity, thereby offering remote sensing based monitoring services for observing and managing the state of NATURA 2000 sites and other precious habitats to reduce the loss of biodiversity. Methods combining earth observation (EO) data and in-situ data are defined and implemented with the aim to support public authorities in implementing policies and measures. Pilot applications in a range of study areas all over Europe will demonstrate the value and importance of monitoring for the conservation of biodiversity. The project will support the GEO (Group on Earth Observations) societal benefit area of biodiversity and demonstrate the power of EO-based methods for monitoring sensitive ecological sites in general.
• Study area
  As the project focuses on NATURA 2000 sites, the pilot sites are spread all over Europe, covering a wide variety of biogeographical zones and habitat types.
• Staff
  Prof. Dr. Sebastian Schmidtlein (PI)
  Markus Reinhold (Junior Researcher)
• Cooperation partners
  Paris-Lodron-Universität, Salzburg (Austria)
  Universitat de Malaga, Malaga (Spain)
  Centre National du Machinisme Agricole, du Genie Rrural, des Eaux et des Forets, Montpellier (France)
  INBO, Brüssel (Belgium)
  EFTAS GmbH, Münster (Germany)
  Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek N.V., (Belgium)
  National Observatory of Athens, Athen (Greece)
  EURAC, Bolzano (Italy)
  Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn (Germany)
  Instytut Geodezij i Kartografii (Poland)
  Technische Universität Berlin, (Germany)
  Eovision GmbH, Salzburg (Austria)
  Specto Natura Limited (UK)
  Mouseio Goulandri Fysikis Istorias, Thessaloniki (Greece)
  Luftbild Umwelt Planung GmbH, Potsdam (Germany)
  Landesamt für Landwirtschaft, Umwelt und Ländliche Räume des Landes Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel (Germany)
  Conservatoire des Espaces Naturels du Languedoc Roussillon Association, Montpellier (France)
• Funding agency
  The research has received funding from the European Community‘s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement No. 263479.

06/2010 - 05/2013

• Project management
  Prof. Dr. Heinz-Wilhelm Dehne¹², Prof. Dr. Gunter Menz      
• Project aim
  The projects aims at early recognition of pest infestation of the Asian Long-horned Beetle (ALB). The ALB is presumably introduced from China. In Europe it is seen as pest and ha to be put under quarantine. Since infested trees have to be logged and burned immediately in order to prevent the beetle from dispersal, it is important to find tree species that are prone to infestation, early recognize infested trees and model the dispersal of the beetle to effectively fight the pest.
• Run time
  1. Phase: 06/2010 - 05/2011
  2. Phase: 06/2011 - 05/2013
• Study area
  Bonn (Germany)
• Staff
  Prof. Dr. Heinz-Wilhelm Dehne (PI)
  Prof. Dr. Gunter Menz (PI)
  Oliver Bauer (Junior Researcher)
• Cooperation partners
  Dr. Albert Moll
  Plant Protection Service North Rhine-Westphalia (PSD NRW)
• Funding agency
  Ministerium für Klimaschutz, Umwelt, Landwirtschaft, Natur- und Verbraucherschutz des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen (MKULNV)¹³

04/2010 - 04/2013

• Project management in Bonn
  Prof. Dr. Gunter Menz  
• Project aim
  Glacier mass balance measurements on KGI
  In the context of the ESF IMCOAST project we intend to start an extensive field programme on Potter Glacier in addition to previous observations on Bellingshausen Dome and the main ice cap of King George Island. The observations on Potter glacier shall be run over three years and comprise the installation of an automatic weather station (AWS) including direct measurements of surface energy fluxes on the glacier. Additionally snow courses and mass balance stakes will be placed on the glacier. The data from this instrumentation will form the base for point and spatially distributed melt and glacier surface mass balance modelling. The snow courses and modelling activities shall also cover Potter Peninsula in order to link them to the hydrological measurements within IMCOAST.
• Study area
  King George Island, Potter Glacier
  Western Antarctic Peninsula
• Staff
  Ulrike Falk (Prinicpal researcher)
  Hilke Gieseke (Student assistant)
  Franziska Kotzur (Student assistant)
  Matthias Braun (project coordinator)
• Gunter Menz (project coordinator)Cooperation partners
  Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
• Funding agencies
  European Science Foundation (ESF)
  Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) 
  AZ 03F0617B, ERANET Europolar
• Further information
  IMCOAST project web page¹⁴

06/2009 - 12/2012

• Project PI
  Prof. Dr. Björn Waske  
• Project aim
  Development of robust and (semi-)automated methods that can be used for (pre-)mapping in structur-ecological surveys of river courses. Additionally, we traget change detection methods that will be specifically adapted in order to verify if proposed renaturation actions have been carried out without dedicated field surveys. The project is based on a combined analysis of SAR and multispectral remote sensing data from the high-resolution satellite systems TerraSAR-X and RapidEye. The project targets fundamental mapping requirements addressed by the EU water framework directive.
• Study areas
  Our current study sites comprise rivers of differen sizes and in different physio-geographic regions and settings. The sites are located in North-Rhine Westfalia (Rhineland-Palatinate) and Black Forest to Oberrhein (Baden-Württemberg).
• Staff
  Sascha Klemenjak (PhD student)
  Prof. Björn Waske (PI)
• Cooperation partners
  Zumbroich GmbH & Co KG, Bonn (lead)
  Die Gewässerexperten!, Bonn
• Funding agency
  DLR / BMWi (FKZ 50EE0917)

2009 - 2012

• DFG Research Unit "Resilience, Collapse and Reorganisation in Social-Ecological Systems of East- and South Africa's Savannahs"
  Sub-Project A3 - "Vulnerability and Resilience of Rangeland Vegetation as Affected by Livestock management, Soils and Climate"
• Project PI
  Prof. Dr. Frank Ewert    
• Project aim
  Our work encompasses the sub-project "Vulnerability and Resilience of Rangeland Vegetation as Affected by Livestock Management, Soils and Climate". In the project we aim to analyse and model changes in rangeland vegetation, with specific emphasis on its resilience and vulnerability as affected by livestock management and environmental conditions. The work will focus on South African savannah and grassland biomes and their system shifts to alternative states under different types of range management.
• Study areas
  South Africa
  Kenya
• Staff
  Katharina Brüser
  PD Dr. Jürgen Schellberg
  Prof. Dr. Frank Ewert
• Cooperation partners
  various Departments within the Universities of Cologne and Bonn
• Funding agency
  DFG

10/2008 - 03/2012

• Project management in Bonn
  Prof. Dr. Gunter Menz      
• Project aim
  Development of robust and (semi-)automated methods for a synergetic use of microwave and multispectral remote sensing data for land use classification, change detection and urban mapping. In particular, we focus on the new German satellite systems TerraSAR-X and RapidEye, however data from other sensor systems shall also be incorporated.
• Run time
  October 2008 - September 2011 (extended till March 2012)
• Study areas
  Lower Rhine, North Rhine-Westphalia
  Open pit mining district, North Rhine-Westphalia
  (Emscher region, North Rhine-Westphalia)
  Black forest to Upper Rhine, Baden-Württemberg
  Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia
  (Groitzsch near Leipzig, Saxony)
  Nordhausen, Thuringia
  (Gera-Ronneburg, Thuringia)
  Thuringian Forest
  Rostock, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
• Staff
  Antje Hecheltjen (PhD student)
  Frank Thonfeld (PhD student)
  Ingo Elbertzhagen (PhD student)
  Frauke Becker (PhD student)
  Johann Müller (Student assistant)
  Benjamin Fißmer (Student assistant)
  Prof. Gunter Menz (project coordinator)
• Cooperation partners
  Jena-Optronik (lead)
  Friedrich Schiller University, Jena
  Zentrum für Bild- und Signalverarbeitung e.V., Ilmenau
• Funding agency
  DLR/BMWi (FKZ 50EE0844 - 50EE0847)
  ENVILAND2 wird durch die Raumfahrt-Agentur des Deutschen Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. mit Mitteln des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Technologie aufgrund eines Beschlusses des Deutschen Bundestages unter den Förderkennzeichen 50EE0844 - 50EE0847 gefördert.
• Further information
  Enviland2 web page¹⁵

Since 2006

• Project management in Bonn
  Prof. Dr. Gunter Menz
• Project aim
  ZFL operates a MSG receiving station. Every 15-min we receive all channels in full resolution of the reprocessed data by EUMETSAT archive various subsets of Africa and central Europe for research on cloud distribution and rainfall modelling. Current subsets stored comprise southern Africa, East Africa, West Africa and central Europe.
• Run time
  since 2006 - to date
• Study areas
  Europe
  Africa
• Staff
  Sascha Heinemann (Diploma student)
  Johannes Landmann (student assistant)
  Prof. Gunter Menz (project coordinator)
  Cooperation partners
  SFB ACACIA
  IMPETUS 
• Funding agency
  DFG, BMBF, University of Bonn
• More Information¹⁶