Department of Earth Systems Analysis
Mission
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The Earth's surface and subsurface are the work field of the Department of Earth Systems Analysis (ESA).
ESA concentrates on a number of societal issues and problem areas, including:
- earth resources management, exploration and exploitation;
- land (soil) degradation;
- natural hazards and disasters;
- geo-environmental hazards.
Dealing with such issues and problem areas requires that adequate spatial and temporal information on earth systems and processes is available and accessible. This requires a good understanding of the earth systems involved and the processes that are taking place.
ESA combines competence in the earth sciences with relevant know-how about state of the art remote sensing and GIS technology. The department's activities include:
- spatio-temporal modelling for an improved understanding of earth systems and processes;
- development of methods, techniques and tools for the assessment and monitoring of these earth systems and processes;
- earth and land resource information provision for planning and decision-making on the multi-functional use of space.
In short, ESA provides and applies relevant geo-information for an improved understanding of earth surface and subsurface processes in space and time, for the sustainable use of earth resources and the mitigation of natural and man-induced disasters.