About

Matthias Forkel is an environmental scientist and Professor for Environmental Remote Sensing at TU Dresden, Germany. His main research interest is the development and application of optical and microwave satellite observations, and global ecosystem models to quantify changes in land ecosystems, vegetation and the carbon cycle and their feedbacks with the climate. He aims to combine the specific advantages of satellite observations and ecosystem models through model-data integration and machine learning approaches to predict climate impacts on vegetation phenology, productivity, carbon cycling, and disturbances.

Matthias' research group at TU Dresden

Professional research experience

  • since 09/2019 | TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany | Junior-Professor for Environmental Remote Sensing, Faculty for Environmental Sciences
  • 2016-2019 | TU Wien, Vienna, Austria | PostDoc at the Department of Geodesy and Geoinformation, Climate and Environmental Remote Sensing Group
  • 2011-2015 | Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany | PhD candidate, later PostDoc at the Department of Biogeochemical Integration
  • 2009-2010 | Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany | Scientific assistant at the Department for Earth Observation

Education

  • 2015 | PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) | Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany | Thesis: Controls on Global Greening, Phenology, and the Enhanced Seasonal CO2 Amplitude – Integrating Decadal Satellite Observations and Global Ecosystem Models
  • 2008-2010 | M.Sc. | Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany | Master degree in Geoinformatics
  • 2005-2008 | B.Sc. | Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany | Bachelor degree in Geography

News

Selected posts from @matthiasforkel.bsky.social

Read our latest research on wildfire emissions in the Amazon and Cerrado, published in NGEO @nature.com: www.nature.com/articles/s41... Comparison of fire emission estimates, global models and the role of fire types and dead wood ... @esa.int @knmi.bsky.social @tudresden.bsky.social

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— Matthias Forkel (@matthiasforkel.bsky.social) 27. Januar 2025 um 13:34

We investigated fuel moisture content 💧🔥 in Central European forests ➡️ www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... We conduced automated and destructive measurements of litter, woody debris and of live vegetation. Then we compared with two models, Fire Weather Indices and with satellite observations ...

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— Matthias Forkel (@matthiasforkel.bsky.social) 13. Mai 2025 um 21:46