How is the vegetation distribution influencing the erosion and surface formation in the
different eco zones of Chile? To answer this question it is mandatory to possess fundamental
knowledge about plant species habitats occurrence and their dynamics. In his study Christian
Bödinger utilizes satellite imagery in combination with machine learning to derive maps of land
use and land cover (LULC) in four study sites along a climatic gradient and to monitor
vegetation using monthly Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series. The
findings contribute to a better understanding of climate impacts on Chilean vegetation and
serve as a basis of landscape evolution models. About the Author: Christian Bödinger holds a
M.Sc. in Physical Geography from the University of Tübingen Germany. His focus in research
lies on remote sensing and image analysis for environmental applications. He is currently
working for a company focusing on aquatic remote sensing.
