From drylands to wetlands: Applications of Remote sensing for ecosystem monitoring

Giorgi Kozhoridze (2025, Dec.)

Remote sensing has become a crucial tool for environmental monitoring, with optical remote sensing playing a key role because of its extensive spectral data and ability to consistently survey large areas. Its advantages include noninvasive data collection, repeated coverage, integration of multiple sensors, and capacity to identify ecological patterns that field-based methods struggle to capture across various spatiotemporal scales. During the seminar, we will review remote sensing data and data collection methods (lab/field, spectroscopy, UAV, airborne platforms, satellite systems, etc.) that offer adaptable spatial and temporal resolutions tailored to a wide range of monitoring objectives. In addition, we will address both classical and modern approaches to data analysis. Finally, we will overview several case studies that demonstrate the broad applicability of remote sensing tools across diverse ecosystems from drylands to wetlands.  

More specifically:

• Land cover monitoring in the drylands of Central Asia
• Central European Forest monitoring for tree mortality caused by pest organisms
• Remote sensing data translated to plant biochemical traits - potential of plant global mapping.