The main objective of the project is to develop and advance a novel approach to remote sensing, which focuses on monitoring basic environmental gradients and properties (covering physical, chemical and biological components as well as their interactions). We aim to identify the potential the different characteristics of Sentinel data have for modeling and identifying environmental gradients, and how they could be applied in order to support various sectors in their need for area information. This includes integration with other relevant datasets such as e.g. Digital Elevation Models (DEM) using data fusion techniques, in order to optimize the results.

From that basis the following goals are identified for the project:

1. Establish spatial relations between satellite data signals and terrain attributes in relevant landscapes and link these to a variety of known landscape patterns and environmental data.
2. Define relevant indicators for environmental gradients and properties for different observation platforms (satellites, aerial photos and field observations).
3. Develop methods for mapping selected environmental characteristics (gradients and properties) relevant for coastal and alpine/arctic ecosystems at different spatial scales based on multi-spectral & multi-temporal Sentinel 1-3 data.
4. Derive methods for detecting changes in the selected characteristics using Sentinel 1-3 data.
5. Disseminate project results to user communities (nature management and biodiversity data management).