Spatial information about the ecological and economic impacts of environmental changes provides public authorities and policy makers with a sound foundation for planning and decision-making at the regional, national and EU level. Remote sensing companies wishing to offer competitively priced services for public administration are therefore increasingly interested in automated processing chains deriving environmental and safety relevant information from remote sensing data. The Research Group supports these companies by developing processing lines and methods for effective measurement and monitoring of environmental parameters. The developments are focused primarily on forest and vegetation monitoring, the acquisition of information for crisis and disaster management, ice monitoring and the establishment of spatial information systems for planning and analysis. Major emphasis in this context is placed on projects carried out as part of the GMES Programme (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) initiated by the European Commission and ESA (European Space Agency).