Study on user requirements for remote sensing applications in forestry.

State forest administrations in Central Europe have to adapt to future climatic and socioeconomic condi tions. This results in new demands for actual and precise forest information especially in regard to increasing forest damages by natural hazards. Therefore the data requirements of professional foresters wer e investigated to derive development goals for remo t sensing applications in forestry. A questionnaire was sent to 655 professio nals in Southern Germany and answered by 347 of the m. Two third describe deficiencies in their forest information and 90 % o f them expect improvements by the application of re mote sensing techniques. The majority of the professionals want to be supported by a forest information system integrating existing data bases and remote sensing derived information. More than 200 examples were de fined for the potential use of remote sensing appli cations. The majority of the examples are related to the management of natural h az rds and the consulting of private land owners. I mprovements of the present situation are expected especially by annual updates of the forest data bases at stand level resolution .