Working Goals
A special focus of this project is on the use of satellite data from the European Copernicus program. Time series of Sentinel-1 (SAR) and Sentinel-2 (Optical) will be used individually, and in combination, to derive grassland specific information for enhanced grassland mapping and management characterization, and to refine outcomes of plant growth models.
SattGrün will increase our general understanding of grasslands and related management practices but also reveal the benefits and limitations of state of the art remote sensing products for grassland monitoring.
Based on the gained knowledge our project partners will develop web-based decision-making aids that provide farmers with up-to-date information to optimize mowing dates,fertilizer applications and other measures. Especially, incorporating aspects of selected ecosystem services into the decision-making criteria, will help to guide management practices towards a sustainable use of grasslands.
The interdisciplinary SattGrün Project aims to develop innovative decision-making products for grassland managements which can be helpful for
- Economically operation of grasslands
- Resilience and protection of grasslands under climate change
- Protection of soil and groundwater as an important sources in whole Germany
The project has three main goals including:
- Implementing Fundamental researches on improving the remote sensing-based methods for better identification and analyzes of features, conditions of grasslands as well as their improved management across Germany
- Using the remote-sensing data and developed methods to provide a simulation model for the analyzing and assessing their productivity of selected ecosystem-services over intensive grasslands in Germany
- Developing a web-based decision-making tool, available under public channels, considering political, administrative and individual farmers outlooks. Moreover, the tool can be also used at regional scales and for commercial consulting of farmers based on the aforementioned objectives.
