WALD-Puls

In order to better and more quickly assess the effects of multiple and combined stress factors on the functioning of forest ecosystems and the associated ecosystem services, new approaches in digital forest monitoring of spatially and temporally high-resolution data on tree growth, tree stress and forest damage are urgently needed. Particular attention is paid here to the interface between high-resolution remote sensing data and ecophysiological monitoring in order to project high-precision, selective observations of individual trees onto the area. 

In this context, the WALD-Puls project combines the expertise of the TU Munich (Professorship of Land Surface-Atmosphere Interactions) in the field of remote sensing based forest-condition monitoring in near real time with the core competence of the University of Greifswald (AG Landscape Ecology & Ecosystem Dynamics) in the field of temporal high-resolution, physiological tree monitoring. 

In the TU Munich sub-project, the focus is on optimizing the existing forest condition monitor (WZM) by improving the spatial resolution at Sentinel 2 level and reducing the temporal latency. In addition, by combining the WZM data with the monitoring data from the sub-project of the project partners from Greifswald, physiologically informed early warning indicators for stress-related forest damage will be developed, which complement the existing WZM product range. This information enables forest managers to identify silvicultural risks at an early stage and, if necessary, to take appropriate measures.