Research area geomatics
The “Geomatics” research focus at the Department of Geography carries out methodology research, developing and analyzing methods for recording, managing, analyzing, modeling and presenting spatial structures and processes. In other words, geomatics combines a number of different geomethodological disciplines: remote sensing, geographical information systems, geostatistics, cartography, and spatially explicit modeling and analysis
The “Geomatics” research focus at the Department of Geography carries out methodology research, developing and analyzing methods for recording, managing, analyzing, modeling and presenting spatial structures and processes. In other words, geomatics combines a number of different geomethodological disciplines: remote sensing, geographical information systems, geostatistics, cartography, and spatially explicit modeling and analysis. This broad methodological range lays the foundations for integrating questions of physical and human geography in the context of social and ecological systems in an interdisciplinary way. Geomatics furnishes a scientifically sound basis for planning and designing coupled human-environment systems. Besides the important basic research that it does, it is primarily applied research—with its many varied applications to current environmental issues and questions of spatial planning and environmental management—that makes geomatics one of the key tools of the 21st century.
The “Geomatics” key field develops methods for recording, managing, analyzing, modeling and presenting spatial structures and processes. In this, geomatics in Bonn leverages synergy effects from the broad content focus adopted by geography at the University and therefore finds a use in many different geographical research areas.
Spatial problems and thus methods that geomatics offers to solve them play a key role in over 80 percent of all political, economic and environmental decisions (GIS Business 6/2006). For example, methods and analysis techniques from the world of geomatics are increasingly in demand for mapping flood zones, allocating agricultural subsidies, assessing natural and technological risks, documenting urban growth, monitoring changes in land use, creating biodiversity maps, recording land degradation and modeling crop yields, and they are continuously being refined as a result. Logging spatial patterns and dynamic processes accurately based on airborne and satellite sensor systems (multi- and hyperspectral sensors and radar sensors) in combination with web services and models is vitally important in this context. Together with the (further) development of digital image processing software and the development of automated processing routines, of models of changes in land use and of complex decision support systems (DSSs), geomatics is making a major contribution to solving problems relevant to society.
The “Geomatics” key field at the Department of Geography forms a key pillar of the Interdisciplinary Center of Remote Sensing of Land Surfaces at the University of Bonn (ZFL), which was set up in 2001.
Contact and cooperations:
- German Aerospace Center (DLR)
- Center for Development Research (ZEF)
- Various UN-Organisations (UNU, UNCCD, UN-Spider)
- Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development
- GIS-Industry as well as with partners within the ABC/J geoscientific research alliance
Together with these and other partners, it aims to further concentrate its geomatics expertise and play a key role in answering the burning questions of the day.
Contact Information
Zbynek Malenovsky
1.029 (332)
Meckenheimer Allee 166
53115 Bonn
Christian Geiß
2.002 (342)
Meckenheimer Allee 166
53115 Bonn