The University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), the Alma Mater Viridis, is a teaching and research centre for renewable resources, as a basis for human life. Connecting natural sciences, engineering and economic sciences, BOKU works towards an increased knowledge of the ecologically and economically sustainable use of natural resources, to provide a harmoniously cultivated landscape. 

The Institute of Geomatics covers scientific and technical aspects of geo-information retrieval, in particular using Earth Observation (EO) satellites.  The group is internationally recognized as one of the leading institutes specialized in the processing and analysis of Copernics Sentinel-2 data and other EO time series. The institute developed a unique web-based processing chain for pre-processing of Sentinel-2 time series, including the extraction of relevant vegetation traits such as leaf area index (LAI) (s2.boku.eodc.eu/). 

Key expertise of the team includes machine learning and neural nets for image analysis, forward and inverse modelling of canopy spectral signatures for the retrieval of vegetation traits using physically-based radiative transfer models, time series analysis, extraction of land surface phenology and drought indicators for monitoring purposes.