Michael Förster

Dr. Michael Förster is the Head of the Vegetation Remote Sensing Research Department and a Postdoctoral researcher at the Technical University of Berlin since 2009. His work focuses on developing remote sensing methods to analyze ecosystem dynamics, vegetation structure interactions, and environmental indicators using satellite and drone data. He holds expertise in integrating optical and SAR time series to study forest health, drought impacts, and soil moisture dynamics.

Education & Positions:

• PhD in Geoecology (Potsdam, 2003)
• Visiting Scientist positions at JRC (2018), Utrecht University (2012), and EURAC (2010)
• Research roles at TU Berlin since 2003

Research Interests:

• Analyzing ecosystem degradation via remote sensing time series
• Linking spectral/plant trait data to biophysical variables
• Deriving actionable environmental indicators for policy frameworks (e.g., NATURA 2000)
• Integrating LiDAR/SAR with optical data for forest evaluation
• Drone-satellite synergy for ecohydrological studies

Key Contributions:

• Pioneered drought impact analysis using XAI and Sentinel-2 data
• Developed methods for bark beetle infestation detection
• Advanced soil moisture modeling via cosmic-ray neutron sensing and remote sensing fusion
• Published extensively in journals like Ecological Indicators, Remote Sensing of Environment, and Forest Ecology and Management

Labs & Teams: Leads the Vegetation Remote Sensing Research Department, coordinating interdisciplinary projects on environmental monitoring and geoinformatics.