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Research Land System Science

All landscape laboratories are visited as part of courses in the geography programme. The results collected in the landscape labs can be the basis for final theses and are sometimes also used in projects. The focus of each landscape laboratory varies due to the natural features of the area, but usually includes identical learning objectives and content depending on the semester of study.

Current projects

EU for a green Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan is affected by climate change, facing significant challenges today with increasing potential in the future. Climate change caused by, among others, methane and greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) into the

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5. February 2025

DiP-SMART Agroforst

Project description Global climate change the associated increase in extreme weather events, as well as a structural transformation in the former Central German mining region, pose severe challenges for regional

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11. December 2024

DIP-ZAZIkI

The aim of this project is to develop and evaluate resource-conserving and practical cultivation systems for sugar beet in the model region of Mitteldeutsches Revier in Saxony-Anhalt. The new cultivation

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19. September 2024

DIP: FaiReSyst

The digital transformation, globalization, and demographic change pose challenges to the economy. The agricultural sector plays a significant role in the plant value chain and regional competitiveness. Given the noticeable

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23. May 2024

CoolTown

Development of a remote sensing service to contribute to the mitigation of urban heat island effects and the adaptation of urban green spaces to drought and heat stress in the

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29. April 2024

CASIB

The Project Office for Sustainable Innovations in Central Asia supports research and development projects between Germany and the Central Asian countries in the thematic areas of climate, environment and energy.

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17. April 2022

Green Central Asia

Funded by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany, the CAWa-Green project in the “Green Central Asia Initiative” frame intends to contribute to a sound scientific and reliable regional data basis

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17. April 2022

AgriSens DEMMIN 4.0

Der globale Wandel hat eine Reihe von Umweltveränderungen befördert, wie z.B. den Klimawandel, Veränderungen der Wasserressourcen, der chemischen Zusammensetzung der Atmosphäre, der Ökosysteme und letztendlich auch der landwirtschaftlichen Produktivität. Die

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17. April 2022

GM-GDE

Groundwater resources are biodiversity hotspots and provide important ecosystem services. Groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) are exposed to anthropogenic threats such as climate change. In order to respond to these threats, the

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1. January 2022

KendyrTex

The project focuses on the production of a cotton-like fibre quality that, as a blending partner, allows processing on locally available cotton textile machines. A German-Central Asian consortium of a

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1. July 2021

PhenoSAR DEMMIN

The PhenoSAR-Demmin project investigates the derivation of phenological times and periods from remotely sensed time series according to the current state of scientific knowledge. Data from the Sentinel-1 mission are

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1. July 2020

Recent publications
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Schuermann, A., Teucher, M., Kleemann, J., Inkoom, J.N., Nyarko, B.K., Okhimamhe, A.A. and Conrad, C. (2025) Spatial Assessment of Current and Future Migration in Response to Climate Risks in Ghana and Nigeria. Frontiers in Climate, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2025.1516045.
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Obateru, R.O., Okhimamhe, A.A., Fashae, O.A., Schuermann, A., Teucher, M. and Conrad, C. (2025) Insights into Landscape Structure Change in Urbanising Rainforest and Guinea Savanna Ecological Regions of Nigeria. Environmental Management. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-025-02118-0.
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Mahmood, T., Usman, M. and Conrad, C. (2025) Selecting Relevant Features for Random Forest-Based Crop Type Classifications by Spatial Assessments of Backward Feature Reduction. PFG – Journal of Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Geoinformation Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41064-024-00329-4.
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Ziegler, K., Abel, D., König, L., Weber, T., Otte, I., Teucher, M., Conrad, C., Thiel, M., Gbode, I.E., Ajayi, V.O., Coulibaly, A., Traoré, S.B., Zoungrana, B.J.-B. and Paeth, H. (2025) A Spatial Decision Support System for Climate-Adapted Agriculture Designed with and for Stakeholders in West Africa. Climate Services, 39, 100585. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cliser.2025.100585.
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Obateru, R.O., Okhimamhe, A.A., Fashae, O.A., Olusola, A.O., Dragovich, D. and Conrad, C. (2025) Assessing the Status of Ecosystem Regulating Services in the Urbanising Rainforest and Guinea Savanna Ecological Regions of Nigeria Using InVEST Models. Urban Climate, 61, 102410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2025.102410.
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Xia, Y., Sanderman, J., Watts, J.D., Machmuller, M.B., Mullen, A.L., Rivard, C., Endsley, A., Hernandez, H., Kimball, J., Ewing, S.A., Litvak, M., Duman, T., Krishnan, P., Meyers, T., Brunsell, N.A., Mohanty, B., Liu, H., Gao, Z., Chen, J., Abraha, M., Scott, R.L., Flerchinger, G.N., Clark, P.E., Stoy, P.C., Khan, A.M., Brookshire, E.N.J., Zhang, Q., Cook, D.R., Thienelt, T., Mitra, B., Mauritz‐Tozer, M., Tweedie, C.E., Torn, M.S. and Billesbach, D. (2025) Coupling Remote Sensing With a Process Model for the Simulation of Rangeland Carbon Dynamics. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 17, e2024MS004342. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024MS004342.
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Wenzel, J.L., Poehlitz, J., Usman, M., Piernicke, T. and Conrad, C. (2025) Enhancing Irrigation Scheduling by Application Efficiency Estimations and Soil Moisture Simulations. European Journal of Agronomy, 164, 127487. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2024.127487.
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Hermans, K., Djanibekov, N., Abdullaev, I., Abduvalieva, N., Assubayeva, A., Blondin, S., Bobojonov, I., Conrad, C., Herzfeld, T., Kansiime, J., Kimsanova, B., Laldjebaev, M., Mirkasimov, B., Mirzabaev, A., Murzakulova, A., Rajabova, S., Samakov, A., Schraven, B., Sterly, H. and Umirbekov, A. (2024) Future Research Directions for Understanding the Interconnections between Climate Change, Water Scarcity, and Mobility in Rural Central Asia. Climate and Development, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/17565529.2024.2436090.
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Aweda, E.D., Okhimamhe, A.A., Obateru, R.O., Schuermann, A., Teucher, M. and Conrad, C. (2024) Assessing the Impacts of Migration on Land Degradation in the Savannah Region of Nigeria. Sustainability, 16, 8157. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16188157.
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El-Hokayem, L., De Vita, P., Lindau, A.-K. and Conrad, C. (2024) How Can Satellites Help Us Find Plants That Use Groundwater? Frontiers for Young Minds, 12, 1394341. https://doi.org/10.3389/frym.2024.1394341.

Ongoing Dissertations
  1. Barasso C Uncertainties in satellite-based global time-series of land use/land cover, Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, GeoKur
  2. El-Hokayem L   Identifying threathened groundwater dependent ecosystems as local biodiversity hotspots in Saxony-Anhalt and globally via remote sensing, Martin LutherUniversity Halle-Wittenberg & German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv)
    Halle-Jena-Leipzig    ,  GM-GDE
  3. Koza M Effects of agriculture on wind erosion in the dry steppe of Kazakhstan, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, ReKKS
  4. Loew J An evaluation of Sentinel-1 based PolSAR and InSAR time series for tracking crop phenology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg,  PhenoSAR DEMMIN, AgriSens DEMMIN 4.0
  5. Piernicke T Application of Remote Sensing Technologies for Irrigation Strategies in Agriculture, Helmholtz Centre Potsdam
    GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, AgriSens DEMMIN 4.0
  6. Mahmood T Agricultural Monitoring using multi-temporal optical and SAR data in Complex Cropping Zone, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
  7. Reichmuth A Analysis of forest condition changes using multi-spectral time-series, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung GmbH – UFZ, Waldzustandsmonitor
  8. Schürmann A Assessing the drivers, factors, and routes of internal and cross-border migration in West Africa, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, MIGRAWARE
  9. Wenzel J Combining soil hydraulic properties with starch potato yield and quality parameters for an optimized intra-site irrigation management, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, AgriSens DEMMIN 4.0

Completed projects

MIGRAWARE

The MIGRAWARE project aims to identify and analyse historical, current and future migration movements in West Africa. This analysis will be carried out against the

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22. August 2023

ADRIANA

The sustainable use of natural geo-resources and the efficient use of valuable materials are gaining in importance worldwide. Against this background, anthropogenic deposits such as

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17. April 2022

DSG

The German-language degree programme “Environmental Monitoring and Planning” has existed since 2007 and was originally conceived as a postgraduate programme. “Environmental Monitoring and Management”. The

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17. April 2022
More completed projects
Keine weiteren Projekte vorhanden

Completed dissertations
1.
Koza M (2024) Drivers and processes of soil erosion in the cultivated steppe of Kazakhstan. Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. https://doi.org/10.25673/116615
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Orynbaikyzy A (2023) Crop type classification using the combination of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data. Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. https://doi.org/10.25673/110863
1.
Tetteh G (2022) Optimal delineation of agricultural parcels from satellite imagery using the multiresolution segmentation algorithm. Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. https://doi.org/10.25673/81989
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Kaim A (2022) Adressing land use allocation problems in German agricultural landscapes by combining multi-criteria optimization with stakeholder preferences. Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
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Bauer C (2021) Spatio-temporal patterns of farmland abandonment in the irrigated lowlands of Amu Darya and Syr Darya – a retrospective analysis between 1987 and 2017 using remote sensing and geospatial data. Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. https://doi.org/10.25673/83052
1.
Kumar-Babu D (2021) Efficient Data Fusion Approaches for Remote Sensing Time Series Generation. Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg. https://doi.org/10.25972/OPUS-25180
1.
Dahms T (2020) Ableitung von biophysikalischen Parametern aus fusionierten hochfrequenten fernerkundlichen Zeitserien. Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
1.
Vallentin C (2020) Remote Sensing for Precision Agriculture: Yield Mapping and Delineation of Management Zones with Multispectral Satellite lmagery and GIS Data. Technische Universität Berlin. https://doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-11174
1.
Nisra G (2019) Remote Sensing of Vegetation Phenology by MODIS – challenges in data processing and validation by multispecies ground observations and LiDAR. Technische Universität
1.
Wohlfahrt C (2018) The Yellow River Basin in Transition: Multi‐faceted Land Cover Change Analysis in the Yellow River Basin in the Context of Global Change Using Multi‐sensor Remote Sensing Imagery. Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
1.
Knauer K (2018) Vegetation Dynamics in West Africa: Spatio-temporal Data Fusion for the Monitoring of Agricultural Expansion. Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
1.
Lewinska KE (2017) Multi-scale detection of drought impact on the mountain forest of South Tyrol. Universität Graz
1.
Ahmadian N (2017) Integrating Satellite Remote Sensing and In-situ Measurements to Estimate the Biophysical Parameters of Agricultural Crop using Multispectral and Radar Data. Universität Greifswald
1.
Marz M (2016) Identification and assessment of driving forces of land and soil degradation in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the Kingdom of Swaziland. Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg
1.
Mahmoud MI (2016) Integrating geoinformation and socio-economic data for assessing urban land-use vulnerability to potential climate change impacts. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kumasi
1.
Knöfel P (2016) Optimierung der Energiebilanzmodellierung zur Ableitung der Evapotranspiration durch Entwicklung eines physikalischen Bodenwärmestromansatzes am Beispiel der Region Khorezm (Usbekistan). Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
1.
Zoungrana BJ-B (2016) Vegetation dynamics in the southwest of Burkina Faso in response to rainfall variability and land use. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kumasi
1.
Forkour G (2015) Mapping Landuse and Landuse Change Pathways in the Sudanian Savanna of West Africa. Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
1.
Löw F (2014) Agricultural crop mapping from multi-scale remote sensing data Concepts and applications in heterogeneous Middle Asian agricultural landscapes. Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
1.
Thiel M (2013) Nutzung von Texturinformationen hochaufgelöster SAR-Daten zur Beschreibung von Siedlungsflächen. Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
1.
Schuster C (2013) Change Detection Analysis for the Monitoring of NATURA 2000 habitats using Rapid Eye and TerraSAR-X satellite data. Technische Universität Berlin
1.
Dietz A (2013) Central Asian Snow Cover Characteristics between 1986 and 2012 derived from Time Series of Medium Resolution Remote Sensing Data. Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
1.
Fritsch S (2013) Spatial and temporal patterns of crop yield and marginal land in the Aral Sea Basin: derivation by combining multi-scale and multi-temporal remote sensing data with a light use efficiency model. Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
1.
Dubovyk O (2013) Multi-scale targeting of land degradation in northern Uzbekistan using satellite remote sensing. Universität Bonn

Field labs
Merbitz
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Demmin
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Salza
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Kaiserpfalz
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The Department of Geoecology maintains four landscape laboratories that extend from the central and lower Harz mountains, the eastern Harz foreland, the Helme-Unstrut stratified plain and the Querfurt plate to the Finne on the one hand and to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the north-eastern German lowlands on the other. The Central German drylands, loess landscapes as well as the young moraine landscape with typical periglacial landscape elements such as extensive, flat sandy areas, hills and depressions are covered.

The research topics include land use systems, water and landscape budgets in agricultural landscapes and small catchment areas. Specifically, long-term monitoring of runoff and water quality is conducted along the Salza River, and research is conducted at the TERENO site DEMMIN on remote sensing monitoring and the use of remote sensing for precision agriculture. The Agricultural and Food Research Centre (AEVZ) Merbitz is used to answer soil and agri-geographical questions. Accordingly, the landscape laboratories are equipped with field measurement technology and are sampled in campaigns on a regular or question-based basis.