Environmental changes affect the state of vegetation resulting in a variety of bioresponses. For example, plant stress may occur due to different kinds of stimuli and disturbances: abiotic stress (e.g., climatic, nutrient deficiency, site factors), biotic stress (e.g., pathogens), improper or incomplete management, physiogenic aspects, etc. Management of vegetation is essential and requires monitoring at the scale of the stress impact, both temporal and spatial, since the stress impact on plants is not uniform.

This session solicits for contributions presenting strategies, approaches and methodologies to assimilate remote sensing and in situ data into bio-geophysical models estimating growth and productivity of vegetation and its interaction with the environment. In time, this integration should allow to cross the bridge from post-harvest assessment to near real-time potential and actual yield monitoring in terms of crop production as well as in terms of climate change related issues.