Data Pool Initiative for the Bohemian Forest Ecosystem; 4 Years of Success

Abstract

The Bohemian Forest right at the national border between the Czech Republic, Austria and Bavaria in Germany is a unique area of forested mountains and plateaux with relatively harsh climates and many peat bogs. Historically, the human impact in the region was comparability low and therefore led to the preservation of a unique forest ecosystem. The centre of the area is formed by two contiguous protected areas, the Bavarian Forest National Park (240 km2) and the Šumava National Park (690 km2), which are surrounded by the Bavarian Forest Natural Park (3,000 km2) and the Bohemian Forest Protected Landscape Area (1,000 km2). This area provides a perfect field of research to study natural and near natural ecosystems. Since January 2015 the cooperation agreement “Data Pool Initiative for the Bohemian Forest Ecosystem” exists between the Bavarian Forest National Park, the Šumava National Park and a diversity of European research organizations and universities. Overall, 9 partners did sign the agreement supporting the mutual goal to contribute to the data pool with remote sensing data as well as with in-situ data including adequate metadata information respectively. The steadily increasing data pool provides input for a multitude of scientific questions concerning the two national parks, mainly related to forestry. The main objectives of the data pool initiative are to store and provide large remote sensing data sets, to offer a testing environment for new sensor developments, to serve as a laboratory for Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBV), to facilitate collaborative research and to create information for the national park management. Within the last 4 years, 15 airborne surveys did take place with four different remote sensing systems, namely LiDAR, digital imagery, hyperspectral reflective and thermal imagery and SAR. In addition to the airborne campaigns, numerous intensive field activities did take place. The overall suite of data is complemented by satellite data, like SPOT-5, TerraSAR-X, ALOS and of course the data products of the Sentinel satellite systems. Until now, more than 40 publications covering a variety of scientific fields like forestry, ecology and animal conservation did follow from the data pool initiative.