Climate Remote Sensing

The module is set up to meet the growing public concern about climate change, sea level rise, and potential shortage of freshwater resources, which are consumed with an increasing rate. To address these concerns, it is vital to measure, unravel, forecast, and, if possible, control various climate- and water-related processes. In this context, the data delivered by remote sensing techniques play a central role.

In this module, students will learn how to process, invert, and combine data, including those of different spatial/temporal resolutions. Moreover, they will learn how a proper data weighting can be implemented in order to optimize results of data combination. Using data provided by satellite altimetry and satellite gravimetry missions as an example, students will be able to produce state-of-the-art estimates of large-scale mass change in various Earth system compartments, such as the melting of glaciers and ice sheets, climate-driven variability in river basin water storage, and depletion of groundwater stocks.