Living Earth

The Living Earth Lab is a research hub dedicated to advancing Earth Observation (EO) Data Science and Big Earth Data analytics through the Digital Earth framework. Its mission is to contribute to the development and implementation of the Living Earth system (https://livingearthhub.org), integrating multi-source geospatial data to better understand and model our planet’s dynamic processes. The lab’s research focuses on leveraging EO data to study:

• The science of land change and land degradation
• The impacts of climate change on vegetation and ecosystems
• The key sustainability challenges and the effects of urbanization on the environment.
• The Earth’s geography evolution in deep-time and its impact on climate 

By combining advanced data science techniques with interdisciplinary approaches, the laboratory aims to deliver actionable insights for sustainable land management and support global efforts toward environmental resilience.

Our expertise & Research Interests:

Land Cover – Land Degradation – Snow cover – Vegetation Health/Change– Local Climate Zones – Accessibility to UGS – Geodiversity – Geodynamics & Paleogeography – Remote Sensing – Data cube – Digital Earth – Essential Variables & Policy 

Current Research projects:

• Horizon-Europe MONALISA
• Horizon-Europe NEMESIS
• Horizon-Europe LandShift
• Horizon-Europe Nostradamus
• SNSF DT4LC
• SNSF Base-Top Earth
• Swiss Data Cube
• Living Switzerland

Former research projects:

SNF DynamicLand [2024-2025] | ANR-SNSF TRACES [2022-2025] | ESA GEOSS Platform Plus [2022-2025]

Publications

• All publications of the team

Collaborations

Prof. Richard Lucas [Aberyswyth University] | Prof. Gilberto Camara [INPE] | Prof. Karine Ferreira [INPE] | Dr. Paolo Mazzetti [CNR] | Dr. Ioannis Manakos [CERTH] | Paul Tackley [ETHZ] | Gerya Taras [ETHZ] | Michael Schapeman [UZH] | Michael Zemp [UZH] | S. Asmaryan [CENS] | H. Astsatryan [IIAP] | N. Kussul [UMA] | A. Shelestov [NTU] | M. Cannata [SUPSI] | O. Ertz [HEIG-VD] | J. Ingensand [HEIG-VD] | J. Gensel [UGA] | C. Bernard [UGS] | M. Brovelli [PoliMi] | M. Sudmanns [PLUS] | D. Tiede [PLUS] | A. Annoni [JRC] | S. Nativi [CNR] | N. Sims [CSIRO] | C. Wang [CAS] | B. Sy [UAMM] | B. Killough [NASA] | S. Minchin [GA] | N. Mueller [GA] | J. Maso [UAB] & many more...

Former members:

Lucie Schlumpf [CG] | Daniela Milon Flores [PhD - UGA, France} | Aurélien Fabregue [CG] | Maria Tussy [MSc] | Arthur Lalayan [PhD - IIAP, Armenia] | Claire Obuchowicz [MSc] | Isabel Thomas [MSc] | Giulia Marti [MSc]