As of 1 March 2019, the two formerly independent GFZ sections 'Remote Sensing' and 'Geoinformatics' will merge to form the new section 'Remote Sensing and Geoinformatics'. Geoinformatics will form a separate working group within the new section. The new section will be headed by Doris Dransch, previously Head of GFZ section Geoinformatics and Professor in the Geomatics group of the Humboldt University Berlin.

Doris Dransch's research interests include data science, meaning the extraction of knowledge from data, exploratory data analysis as a subset of statistics, and visual analytics - an interdisciplinary approach that gains knowledge from data by combining automatic data analysis with the human ability to visually capture patterns and trends in data. A field in which these approaches are used is, for example, the risk assessment of flood events via the mass evaluation of posts within social media. The competencies of Doris Dransch in the new section, can provide important impulses, above all, in the area of big data and machine learning.

The former Head of the GFZ section Remote Sensing, Luis Guanter, is following a call to the University of Valencia, Spain, where he will teach and conduct research in the field of mechanics. Luis Guanter moving to the University of Valencia may form the basis of new cooperation between GFZ and the University of Valencia. Guanter remains a member of the Science Advisory Group of the Gernab EnMAP (Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program) satellite mission. (ak)