In a joint procedure, the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) and the Leibniz University Hannover have appointed physicist Sabine Chabrillat as professor at the Institute of Soil Science in Hannover.
International and long-standing experience in geosciences and environmental applications
Sabine Chabrillat studied Physics at the university of Toulouse (France) and defended in 1995 her PhD in „spectral geology“. She moved afterward to the Center for the Study of Earth from Space (CSES/CIRES) at the University of Colorado, Boulder, USA, for a NOAA post doctoral research stay, which was followed with a JPL/NASA grant. In this period she pioneered the use of Vis-NIR reflectance spectroscopy and hyperspectral imagery for the mapping of swelling soils (1996-2000).
She is since 2001 at the Helmholtz Center Potsdam GFZ, German Research Center for Geoscience. She is an expert in soil spectroscopy and hyperspectral remote sensing with more than 20 years of experience in geosciences and environmental applications, and leads since 2014 a working group at GFZ-Potsdam on "Hyperspectral remote sensing applications". Sabine Chabrillat is the Science Principal Investigator for the EnMAP German hyperspectral satellite mission that will start in 2022, Member of the ESA Mission Advisory Group for the Copernicus candidate hyperspectral mission CHIME, and Co-Chair of the IEEE P4005 Working Group "Standards and protocols for soil spectroscopy".
New remote sensing techniques for monitoring soil properties
At the Institute of Soil Science she now strenghtens research and teaching : the focus of her group is on digital mapping of a number of key soil properties and provision of soil data based on soil reflectance spectroscopy, in the context of global change and increased measures for soil protection and reduce soil erosion. Three main pillars are pursued:
- emerging remote sensing techonologies and methods
- projects on regional monitoring of soil properties
- support to degradation processes mapping and monitoring
The aim of the group is to link soil spectroscopy with data science and with laboratory (experimentalists). The group is also interested in looking at multiscale data from the lab, in-situ in the field, and from air-based platforms (UAVs, planes), and satellite. A new era of technology is coming with the launch in 2022 of the German satellite EnMAP which will deliver high quality reflectance spectroscopy data over the whole globe at 30 m spatial resolution. Future research should evolve linking several remote sensing techniques for the gain of soil data, using new big data computational methods such as Machine learning and artificial intelligence methods.
With the joint appointment, Ms Chabrillat can continue her research activities at the GFZ in Potsdam and incorporate her wealth of experience into teaching at LUH - a promising symbiosis.
Welcome, Professor Chabrillat! The Faculty of Natural Sciences wishes you all the best for your upcoming tasks.
