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Thesis Topics

These topics have been defined to reflect current trends and demands in geomatics, specifically remote sensing science. Additionaly, students are encouraged to propose a thesis topic of their own interest. For more information please send an email to rsrgedu@uni-bonn.de

Bachelor's Thesis Topics

  1. Title: The role of satellite imagery in the European Green deal
    Description: The European green deal is a political program to establish Europe as a climate neutral continent. For various environmental applications remote sensing data can contribute to archive these ambitious goals. This thesis should show the potential of remote sensing to contribute to the European green deal, establish a literature review and identify potential applications, especially with regard to the Copernicus programme.
    Primary Supervisor: Dr. PD. Michael Schmidt
    Language:  English or German
  2. Title: Towards a climate action plan for the city of Bonn: Validation of local climate model data via thermal satellite images and identification of hotspots. 
    Description: The city of Bonn has local climate model outputs (at 5m spatial resolution) for one day of the year. These data are purely modelled and should be validated with thermal satellite imagery and brought into spatial context using other relevant urban data. One aim is to identify hotspots for mitigation strategies
    Primary Supervisor: Dr. PD. Michael Schmidt
    Language:  German
  3. Title: Can Sentinel images be used to keep road infrastructure maps current
    Decription: You will use artificial intelligence to monitor changes in road infrastructure and synchronise these with maps with other data sources, such as open streetmaps (OSM) or the ministry of transport.
    Primary Supervisor: Dr. PD. Michael Schmidt
    Language:  German or English
  4. Title: Use of phenology in classification of selected tree species from airborne hyperspectral images

    Description:  A knowledge of tree species composition is crucial for decision-making process in forestry. The main objective of this thesis is to investigate potential use of plant phenology for remote sensing-based tree species classification from time series of high spatial resolution airborne hyperspectral images. The aim is to assess the temporal variability and separability of spectral reflectance signatures of selected deciduous and coniferous tree species throughout a growing season and evaluate if a single phenological phase or all of them together is most suitable approach for classifying the tree species. In this thesis, the candidate will analyse time-series of airborne hyperspectral images and ancillary field data acquired over study sites of the Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Brno.

    Primary Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Zbynek Malenovsky
    Language: English

Master's Thesis Topics

  1. Title: Mapping pollinator habitats, flowerstrips, using a high spatial resolution multispectral satellite data of NRW 
    Description: Flowerstrips (Blumenstreifen) are key habitats for pollinators and support storage of Carbon in the soil. In Germany, subsidies are given to farmers that plant them, and thus, there is a high interest from government and conservation organizations to monitor their locations and areas. In this thesis you will learn to use machine learning to map flowerstrips using high resolution multispectal satellite data (producer Planet, pixel-size of 3 m) in NRW (other federal state might be possible). Some familiarity with programming or willingness to to learn a scripting computer language (especially Python) is highly beneficial. This thesis will be carried out in collaboration with the Thünen Research Insititut.
    Primary Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Zbynek Malenovsky 
    Language: English
  2. Title: Bark beetle attack of immature and mature Norway spruce trees mapped by airborne imaging spectroscopy
    Description: Forests play a crucial role in preserving our planet, as they serve as carbon sinks, absorbing CO2 and regulating the climate.Due to uprising climate change, forests are more and more threatened not only by frequent wildfires and droughts, but also by outbreaks of insect pests such as bark beetle. In this thesis you will use airborne imaging spectroscopy (hyperspectral) images acquired several times during a single vegetation season over outbreaks of Norway Spruce bark beetle in Czech Republic. You will learn how to process and analyse these image time-series to map different stages of the bark beetle invasions and to assess their impact on forest ecosystem functions. This thesis will be carried out in collaboration with the Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Brno.
    Primary Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Zbynek Malenovsky
    Language: English
  3. Title: City imperviousness – monitoring urban green spaces and urban sprawl in Bonn across four decades with satellite data.
    Description: The urban atlas and the imperviousness (deutsch: Versiegelung) layers of the Copernicus land monitoring system are existing information sources, which can be used in this study. The imperviousness layer should be extended to cover four decades in the past, by establishing a satellited based model for the area of Bonn. These data can then be used to describe the historic city development and potentially model future scenarios.
    Primary Supervisor: Dr. PD. Michael Schmidt
    Language:  German or English

For more information please send an email to rsrgedu@uni-bonn.de