Modelling vegetation dynamics and biomass in semiarid ecosystems (Eastern Africa) using remote sensing multisensor approaches

• Antragsteller: Professor Dr. Gunter Menz (†)
• Fachliche Zuordnung: Geographie
• Förderung: Förderung von 1999 bis 2001
• Projektkennung: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 5227274

This pre-study pilot project will be carried out in Kenya and Tanzania and is part of a more extensive remote sensing project (initiated by the European Space Agency, ESA) aiming to develop a monitoring system for the assessment of land cover change of farmlands, rangelands and forest standings (logging, fires, uncontrolled deforestation, new settlements, etc.) at a national regional level. An integrated approach of remote sensing techniques (both through the use of satellite and ground data), physical vegetation models and ground measurements will be adopted. Operatively, the execution will consist of a 6-month period (pre-study) consisting in a ground campaign along a north-south transect, which is almost unknown to the current vegetation cartography. Based on the field results of the pre-study and within an on-going 30 month period (extended study, see Annexed 3), new classification methods and algorithms will be developed for assessment of land use and cover change using ENVISAT-data. An outcoming of this research will be a system capable to monitor and plan the available agricultural food resources for those developing regions.

• DFG-Verfahren: Sachbeihilfen