About Us

Two groups participate in the EO4SEB team:

The Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH) and the Centre d'Etudes Spatiales de la BIOsphère (CESBIO).

FORTH

FORTH (http://www.forth.gr) was established in 1983 and is one of the largest research centers in Greece with well organized facilities, highly qualified personnel and a reputation as a top-level research foundation worldwide. FORTH consisting of seven research Institutes and it is a Centre of Excellence involved in advanced research in biology, applied physics, computer science, applied mathematics, chemistry and chemical engineering, and the humanities.

The Institute of Applied and Computational Mathematics (http://www.iacm.forth.gr) is one of the Institutes of FORTH mainly concerned with issues related to numerical analysis, environmental and physiological flows and non-linear wave phenomena, Earth Observation (EO), Geographical Information Systems (GIS), spatial statistical modeling and Decision Support Systems (DSS). The emphasis of the work out carried in the Institute of Applied and Computational Mathematics is on the development of tools and methods aimed to assist regional, urban and environmental planning as well as on the development of new techniques and software for computational fluid dynamics, computational aeroacoustics, and computational wave propagation. The Institute concentrates on the application of techniques from the fields of mathematics, physics, geography, applied informatics, remote sensing, statistics, operations research, city planning and economics.

EO is a key research direction in FORTH, intensifying the R&D efforts for the development of operational applications using GIS and remote sensing technology that can lead to decision support systems in the domains of environmental monitoring, urban planning, transportation applications, and health. Emphasis is also given to the synergy of remote sensing, numerical models and GIS in urban environmental studies.

CESBIO

CESBIO (http://www.cesbio.ups-tlse.fr/index_us.htm) is a joint laboratory of the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), the Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse (UPS), and the Institut pour la Recherche et le développement. The 3 major axes of CESBIO are: 3D integrated modeling of continental surfaces: radiative transfer (for remote sensing simulation and 3D radiative budget), vegetation growth, hydrology; Remote sensing space missions; and Observatories (Regional Space Observatories in South Western France and Morocco delivering web map services). CESBIO is organized in 2 research teams, functioning modeling and remote sensing of continental surfaces. They develop models that describe the process of exchanging energy and matter at the interface Soil - Vegetation - Atmosphere and simulate remote sensing measurements. The approach relies on the collaboration of research in physics and ecology, and collaboration with CESBIO projects and preparation of space missions. The models (simulation of landscapes and / or physical and biological processes involved) are based primarily on "mechanistic" approaches, which depends on the complexity of these processes and the structure of landscapes. Thus, it will be one-dimensional (1D), two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) depending on the objectives and environments studied. Two types of modeling are developed and implemented. Radiative transfer modeling to simulate remote sensing data and radiation budget. Integrated modeling of all processes (water flow, photosynthesis,...), which determine the functioning of land surfaces. A key point is that the 2 modeling approaches are complementary. The heterogeneity of the environment is a major concern.