Das Projekt "ALPMON - Untersuchung relevanter Parametern für alpine Monitoringsysteme mit Fernerkundungsdaten" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Institut für Digitale Bildverarbeitung durchgeführt. The Convention on the Protection of the Alps has concluded that the Alpine environment is under imminent threat, and demands comprehensive counter-measures. While the Alps represent one of the most sensitive ecosystems in Europe the pressure on them is far greater than on other environments. Far-sighted national and cross border planning is necessary to ensure that preventive measures can be implemented by nature conservation councils, regional planning departments, tourist boards and forestry and agricultural authorities. The success of such measures crucially depends on the availability of information about the kind of Alpine vegetation patterns found and their development dynamics. ALPMON envisages that, by means of the analysis of TM and SPOT sensors a basic landscape register for Alpine areas will be compiled, which will serve as the basis for planning tasks. The components of the Alpine monitoring system will, firstly, be derived from the results of a classification of satellite images and, secondly, be extrapolated from thematic maps. The information levels of the different test sites will be harmonised.