Projects

The Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP) is a German hyperspectral mission, scheduled for launch in 2015. The primary goal of EnMAP is to offer accurate, diagnostic information on the state and evolution of terrestrial ecosystems on a timely and frequent basis, and to allow for a detailed analysis of surface parameters with regard to the characterization of vegetation canopies, rock/soil targets and coastal waters on a global scale. EnMAP is designed to record bio-physical, bio-chemical and geo-chemical variables to increase our understanding of biospheric /geospheric processes and to ensure the sustainability of our resources. 

EUFAR works to coordinate the operation of instrumented aircraft and hyperspectral imaging sensors, exploiting the skills of experts in airborne measurements in the fields of environmental and geo-sciences, in order to provide researchers with the infrastructure best suited to their needs. EUFAR in FP7 joined with the HYRESSA (EU-FP6) hyperspectral community. 

LUCA - Land Use, Ecosystem Services and Human Welfare in Central Asia - is a postgraduate program for young scientists from Central Asia. Starting from 2010 it is building a platform for joint analysis of land use conditions in Central Asia in relation to causing factors involving participants from different countries of Central Asia and scientific partners in Germany. 

Soil moisture is one of the most important parameters for the monitoring of landscape water processes. Remote Sensing enables the detailed and laminar gathering of soil moisture in the upper soil layers. To estimate influence of varying soil moisture on the different remote sensing data the signals are modeled using complex 3D virtual canopies.
 

The BMBF funded "Potsdam Research Cluster for Georisk Analysis, Environmental Change and Sustainability" (PROGRESS) comprises the whole chain of natural hazard and geo-risk research spanning form process analysis to decision making.

 

The 3-year joint research project aims at observing and modelling water and suspended sediment transport processes and connectivity phenomena in two meso-scale dryland catchments in NE Spain and NE Brazil in order to enhance process understanding at spatial scales relevant for water and land management.