Climate change is currently one of the most critical problems, with immediate effects on all live forms on the planet. The Europeancountries that committed under the Kyoto Protocol (KP), Greece among them, have undertaken obligations under the decision 280/2004 / EG of the European Parliament.
To meet these obligations, more especially in the sector of land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF), geographic data of high quality are necessaryfor compiling the required inventory of anthropogenic emissions and removals of greenhouse gases. Data necessary for the estimation of above ground biomass of forest ecosystems are among the required data.
Unfortunately, Greece has recently been internationally exposed due to the unreliable KPreports, asthese were based on data generated byoutdated methodologies.
Therefore this research project investigates and suggests innovative methodologies for the systematic assessment of forest biomass, which isa key factor in global warmingstudies.These methodologies are examined with a keen eye for the possibility of operational implementation, in order to facilitate the realization of national commitments under the KP. Hence, the project aims to address the critical national needs for reliable, complete, comprehensive and up to date data, as well as for sustainable development.
The main objective of this research project is to develop a methodology for identifying and mapping forest vegetation parameters, which can be combined for both providing above ground forest biomass estimations, and monitoring biomass changes over time.

More specifically, the project aims to:

1. Investigate and evaluate different methods of remote sensing and photogrammetry techniques, using a variety of remote sensing data,for mapping natural vegetation and estimatingforest above ground biomass. The results of this investigations are expected to be published in international scientific journals.
2. Compare the methodologies that will be developed, in order to make suggestions for their operational implementation, accounting for the characteristics of the Greek forests (variability, rugged terrain, small and dispersed ownership), and to cover the country’s obligations as arise from the UN Convention on Climate Change, the KP and the European legislation.