This summer school will provide participants with innovative practical and methodological skills to characterize mountainous terrain using close-range and remote sensing techniques. The summer school will be the sixth edition after five successful implementations in 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022, and 2024.

About Sensing Mountains

This event is organized by the Faculty of Geo- and Atmospheric Sciences and the Department of Geography at the University of Innsbruck, and the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS).

Teaching Methods: Theoretical lectures will be complemented by fieldwork assignments and hands-on data processing sessions using different novel software. The assignments will be performed in groups of about five participants and focus on mountain research and related sensor and data processing techniques.

A variety of sensor systems will be available for data acquisition in the high-mountain surroundings of the summer school venue, including different terrestrial laser scanners, UAVs, low-cost sensing systems and spectral cameras.

A poster session on the participants’ current research interests and work will stimulate open exchange and discussion between students and lecturers in a relaxed atmosphere.

Thematic focus will be on mountain research including geomorphology, vegetation characterization and natural hazard research.

Technical focus will be on sensor and data aspects, such as sensor modelling, calibration, data acquisition, 2D and 3D data fusion, geometric methods for information extraction from point clouds and (multispectral) images, and data quality assessment.

Theoretical focus will address critical steps within a processing chain, such as impact of registration, influence of survey geometry on data acquisition and change analysis or issues related to multispectral image analysis. Practical exercises use predominantly open-source software, deepen the conveyed knowledge and help all participants establish a workflow for their research.

Venue: The summer school will take place in and around Obergurgl, at almost 2000 m the highest village in Austria. The main venue is the Obergurgl University Center. Here, lectures will take place and accommodation is provided to all participants. Directions will be available via the website. Please note that fieldwork will take place in a mountainous environment.

When & Where? 23 September 2026 – 29 September 2026, Obergurgl University Center (Obergurgl, Austria)

Cost: Participation incl. accommodation and meals is €85.

Keynotes

• Anita Bernatek-Jakiel (Jagiellonian University, Poland)
• Melanie Elias (HTW Dresden, Germany)
• Norbert Pfeifer (TU Wien, Austria)
• Fabian Schneider (Aarhus University, Denmark)
• Thomas Zieher (Austrian Research Centre for Forests, Austria)

Call for Applications

Intended Audience: This summer school is designed for any well-motivated student; notably PhD students, but also advanced graduate students, post-docs and young researchers from any field, provided they have interest in these types of techniques.

How to join? Please register by e-mail (sensingmountains2026@uibk.ac.at) until 15th March 2026. Each applicant is requested to send:

• a short motivation letter (max. 500 words)
• a one-page CV
• an abstract of the participants’ current work (max. 2 pages, *.docx or *.odf, see template here).

This information will be used by the organizational committee to decide which candidates will be accepted.

Important Dates

• 15 March 2026 – Registration deadline
• 31 March 2026 – Communication of final decision of acceptance
• 15 April 2026 – Deadline for full payment

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_{Photo by Oliver Hihn.}