Natascha Oppelt

Natascha Oppelt received her MS in Geography from the University of Munich in 1997, specialising in airborne videography. On graduation, she spent time studying mesoscale soil moisture patterns using radar data. After her PhD in the field of airborne imaging spectroscopy she worked at the Dept. for Earth and Environmental Sciences of the University of Munich. During her habilitation she specialized in multi-angular remote sensing and the combination of physical based model approaches with remote sensing data. Since 2008, she is professor at Kiel University (Germany) and is head of the “Remote Sensing and Environmental Modelling” group. At Kiel University her main research interests are in the development of methods for process-oriented and spatially differentiated environmental observation with the aid of various measurement techniques, but in particular specialized sensor technology for remote sensing, GIS and various modelling approaches. Natascha Oppelt offers strong expertise in land use/land cover monitoring and analysis including natural and agricultural land use systems in Europe, Latin America and Southeast-Asia on trans-regional, regional and local scales. Her research projects show a strong focus on fusion of different, active and passive sensors and multi-temporal analysis of image data for environmental analysis of agricultural systems, land surface processes and landscape development, ecology and ecosystem services, and aquatic ecosystems. She was/is also involved in a number of projects focusing on the processing and analysis of remote sensing data to support a sustainable land and coastal zone management. In this context, she is developing remote sensing applications for optically complex, coastal and inland waters. An important aspect is in combining remote sensing data and modelling using different model approaches and ensembles including bio-optical modelling of aquatic environments for monitoring water quality and, in shallow waters, bathymetry and benthic vegetation of inland and coastal waters.