General surveillance of genetically modified crops : possibilities of GIS and remote sensing

According EU legislation a General Surveillance is necessary to monitor for unanticipated adverse effects of genetically modified organisms on the environment. In this report a prototype of a monitoring system for such a Surveillance is introduced on the basis of time series analysis of satellite images. The plant phenology is described in a quantitative way and different years are analysed and compared. Weather conditions and human behaviour are distinguished to be the main driving forces for the detected anomalies. So far, this method is only suitable for the detection of unexpected effects on the vegetation in natural grasslands. For real aplpication for GS purposes, it may be possible to further develop and enhance the proposed prototype method