Sensing
The EGF Working Group “Sensing” gathers grassland scientists interested in all aspects of grassland sensing namely remote and proximal sensing and the use of animal-borne sensors on grasslands. It especially aims at combining these techniques to improve the understanding and management of the grassland-livestock ecosystem.
The Working Group was founded in 2017 and organized workshops in 2017 and 2026 (see below). The next workshop is planned for the 11/06/2028 in Aarhus.
Chair person
Dr Manuel Schneider, Agroscope, Zürich, Switzerland
E-mail manuel.schneiderextra@agroscope.admin.ch
Phone +41 (0)58 468 75 98
How to become a member of the Working Group?
Simply download the EXCEL file below, fill in your details and send it to the WG chair. By doing so, you give consent to be added to the mailing list and receive information on WG activities and further information from other members who like to use the WG network for dissemination.
- New membership form (22 KB)
Mission and motivation
Why sensing in Grassland?
- Grassland is a complex ecosystem with enormous temporal and spatial dynamics
- Many small-scale interactions are still not understood
- Effects on the large scale are rarely researched
- Management often guided by traditional or personal experience, rather than by scientific/objective information
Overarching hypothesis
Sensing can provide cheap, accurate and timely information
- to scientists for an improved understanding of ecosystem functioning and
- to farmers to support their decision-making
Challenges
To identify sensors for specific problems with adequate
- information accuracy
- spatial and temporal Resolution
- costs and reliability
Why an EGF Working Group?
- Sensing is a rather new research area
- Grassland is an extremely interesting field of application
- Expertise/specialists are widely distributed among geographers, physicists, engineers, ecologists etc.
- A WG integrates a dynamic research field into the “traditional grassland community” and invites young scientists to join EGF
- WGs within EGF offer an ideal platform for networking, information, exchange etc.
- Europe is a central arena for collaborative research funding
- EGF generally seeks to connect research and application
2026 - “Sensing workshop”
The workshop was held on 12 April, 2026 at the University of Évora campus in Polo da Mitra, Valverde, Portugal.
Aims of the workshop
- Learn about proximal and remote sensing activities within the EGF community
- Foster networking and collaboration between individuals
- Identify the potential of sensing to improve grazing management for farmers
- Publish the notes of the workshop as a paper
Achievements
- Reactivation of the working group
- Planning of a review paper on “Current status and challenges in grassland sensing”
- Planning of upcoming activities of the working group, namely the workshop in Aarhus
- Visit of the ECOSPAA experiment of the University of Évora
- In a joint gathering with the EGF grazing working group, we discussed about how sensing can promote grazing in Europe and about the role of sensing in enhancing resilience in grazing systems
2017 - Workshop “Sensing in grassland and forage science and practice”
The EGF Working Group “Sensing in grassland and forage science and practice” held its constituting assembly and first workshop on 7 May 2017 at the Congress Venue of the Department of Architecture, Muralla de l’Hospital (Bastioni Pigafetta) in Alghero, Sardinia (Italy). The goals of the workshop were:
- to exchange information on ongoing Research
- to learn about practical implementations
- to discuss future joint projects.
The workshop covered all possible sensor systems (e.g. spectroscopy, photography, laser etc.) and their application in the various vegetation for grassland ecosystems.