Workshops

 "Multispectral, multitemporal remote sensing for biodiversity assessment across difficult-to-reach forest stands"

Amongst all the applications in forest monitoring, those focusing on monitoring forest health are of particular importance due to the growing rates of forest extent, structure and biodiversity as affected by biological natural disturbance agents, such as insects, pathogens and invasive species. The planned workshop within the SMPR-ISPRS conference 2019 will combine the theoretical background on remote sensing-assisted forest monitoring with real-life practical examples from a mountainous Himalayan biodiversity hotspot to monitor forest areas affected by invasive plant species. The course material include overview and introductory lectures, followed by case studies and hand-on computer exercises.

Course contents:

    a) Different types of satellites and their applications in forest biodiversity monitoring

    b) Multispectral remote sensing-based vegetation indices and their applications

    c) Remote sensing of forest health: Introduction

    d) Practical exercises:

• Forest Phenology and Invasive plant species in Doon valley of Himalayan northern India

• Forest biodiversity as affected by invasive plant species

           - Theory of spectral heterogeneity

           - Conventional indices vs. modern indices

           - Fractional cover mapping using multi resolution optical data

Presenter Information

Dr. Hooman Latifi PD. Dr. Hooman Latifi is an assistant professor of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing of the K.N.Toosi University of Technology and an associate professor at the Dept. of Remote Sensing of the Julius-Maximilians-University of Würzburg, which is established in cooperation with the German Aerospace Center (DLR). His research interests lie currently in applied spatial analysis of forest entities (Structure, biodiversity and health indicators) by means of spaceborne and airborne (mainly LiDAR and UAV) remote sensing. In addition to leading the “Forest inventory and environmental modelling” group at the Dept. of Remote Sensing in Würzburg, he formerly served as the spokesman of the working group “Ecology and Environment” of the German region of the International Biometric Society.