REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGIES AND APPLICATIONS FOR MONITORING HIGH MOUNTAIN ENVIRONMENTS

The first part of this paper will discuss typical data based problems in High Mountain areas and the applicability of Remote Sensing data in high mountain environment in respect to their limits (shadow, relief displacement, snow cover, clouds, etc.) itself. The general requirements for mapping purposes and topics of interest will be discussed in this part, too. In the second part of the paper different High Mountain Remote Sensing applications, the used methods and techniques will be presented. Mountain environments are likely to be among the most severely impacted ecosystems as a result of climate change. The applications will document case studies of different high mountains of the world (Alps, Andes and Himalayas), with different approaches, sensors and topics. Monitoring concepts of glacier investigations by means of terrestrial (laserscanner) and airborne/spaceborne sensors (aerial photographs, optical satellite images, radar data) are main research topics of the Institute for Geography and Regional Sciences and their partners in Graz. The case studies will document the mapping capabilities for topographic maps as well as the potential for hazard/landslides inventories.