Andri Baltensweiler

Function

Scientist

Forest Resources and Management

GIS

Contact

andri.baltensweiler(at)wslto make life hard for spam bots.ch

+41 44 739 24 96+41 44 739 24 96

Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL
Zürcherstrasse 111
8903 Birmensdorf

Site

Birmensdorf Bi HP C 76

Research interests

I am interest in spatial modelling of various phenomena to identify relationships between them and environmental site conditions. The objectives are to understand the phenomena themselves but also to make spatial predictions. I am particularly interested to identify the relevant spatial scales at which processes operate.

I develop and apply digital soil mapping and species distribution models using different GIS, remote sensing and statistical methods.

Teaching at ETH Zurich

Geographic Information Systems. Master course (No. 651-4031-00L) at the Department of Earth Sciences. Yearly course autumn semester.

Geographic Data Processing with Python and ArcGIS. Master course (No. 701-1776-00L) at the Department of Environmental Systems Science. Yearly course (3 day block course) one week before the autumn semester starts.

Geoprocessing with ArcGIS and Python. Module at Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in RIS/GIS at the Institute of Cartography and Geoinformation (Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering).

Master thesis

If you are interested in writing a master thesis in the context of digital soil mapping, modelling biodiversity or forest functions using remote sensing techniques, please contact me.

Keywords: Geographic information science, Airborne and terrestrial LiDAR, Digital soil mapping, Species distribution models, Forest structures, Terrain attributes

FURTHER INFORMATION

Projects

DivScaling

The main objective of this project is to elaborate how different diversity components in Swiss forest change with increasing area and how they depend on changing heterogeneity.

MoGLI – modelling woody species in NFI

The main goal of MoGLI is to project the potential distribution of the most common Swiss woody species across the entire forested area of Switzerland.

Beurteilung von Schutzwäldern mittels Fernerkundung

Ziel dieses LFI-Projektes ist es, Methoden der Fernerkundung zur Beurteilung der aktuellen Schutzwirkung und Verjüngung von Schutzwäldern zu entwickeln. Im Fokus stehen die Möglichkeiten von terrestrischem (TLS) und flugzeuggestütztem Lasesscanning (ALS).

Soils and water regime of Swiss forests

For the whole forest area of Switzerland, we will map soil properties that are relevant for the water regime of forest stands. Based on this data we will run a water balance model for the 6000 plots of the National Forest Inventory (NFI) from 1980 to 2100 in order to detect regions that likely will suffer under increased drought in the near future.

Distribution of red wood ants

We investigate the requirements and distribution of red wood ants in Switzerland. On each plot of the Swiss National Forest Inventory presence/absence and size of the nest mounds are recorded.

Publications

Scientific publication article peer reviewed

Zellweger, F.; Baltensweiler, A.; Schleppi, P.; Huber, M.; Küchler, M.; Ginzler, C.; Jonas, T., 2019: Estimating below‐canopy light regimes using airborne laser scanning: an application to plant community analysis. Ecology and Evolution, (11 pp.). doi: 10.1002/ece3.5462

Zurell, D.; Zimmermann, N.E.; Gross, H.; Baltensweiler, A.; Sattler, T.; Wüest, R.O., 2019: Testing species assemblage predictions from stacked and joint species distribution models. Journal of Biogeography, doi: 10.1111/jbi.13608

Thurm, E.A.; Hernandez, L.; Baltensweiler, A.; Ayan, S.; Rasztovits, E.; Bielak, K.; Zlatanov, T.M.; Hladnik, D.; Balic, B.; Freudenschuss, A.; Büchsenmeister, R.; Falk, W., 2018: Alternative tree species under climate warming in managed European forests. Forest Ecology and Management, 430: 485-497. doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2018.08.028

Nussbaum, M.; Spiess, K.; Baltensweiler, A.; Grob, U.; Keller, A.; Greiner, L.; Schaepman, M.E.; Papritz, A., 2018: Evaluation of digital soil mapping approaches with large sets of environmental covariates. Soil, 4, 1: 1-22. doi: 10.5194/soil-4-1-2018

Vandegehuchte, M.L.; Wermelinger, B.; Fraefel, M.; Baltensweiler, A.; Düggelin, C.; Brändli, U.; Freitag, A.; Bernasconi, C.; Cherix, D.; Risch, A.C., 2017: Distribution and habitat requirements of red wood ants in Switzerland: implications for conservation. Biological Conservation, 212: 366-375. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2017.06.008

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Further scientific publications

Walthert, l.; Scherler, M.; Stähli, M.; Huber, M.; Baltensweiler, A.; Ramirez-Lopez, L.; Papritz, A., 2015: Böden und Wasserhaushalt von Wäldern und Waldstandorten der Schweizunter heutigem und zukünftigem Klima (BOWA-CH).. 118 p.

Baltensweiler, A.; Zimmermann, S., 2010: Modelling soil acidity in Switzerland using spatial statistics tools. In: 2010: Proceedings ESRI International User Conference, July 12-16, 2010, San Diego. ESRI International User Conference, San Diego. Paper Nr. 1493.

Cioldi, F.; Baltensweiler, A.; Brändli, U.-B.; Duc, P.; Ginzler, C.; Herold Bonardi, A.; Thürig, E.; Ulmer, U., 2010: Les ressources forestères. In: Brändli, U.-B.; Institut fédéral de recherches sur la forêt,la neige et le paysage WSL,Birmensdorf; Office fédéral de l'environnement OFEV,Berne (eds), 2010: Inventaire forestier national suisse. Résultats du troisième inventaire 2004-2006. Birmensdorf, Institut fédéral de recherches sur la forêt, la neige et le paysage WSL. 31-113.

Cioldi, F.; Baltensweiler, A.; Brändli, U.-B.; Duc, P.; Ginzler, C.; Herold Bonardi, A.; Thürig, E.; Ulmer, U., 2010: Waldressourcen. In: Brändli, U.-B.; Eidgenössische Forschungsanstalt für Wald,Schnee und Landschaft WSL,Birmensdorf; Bundesamt für Umwelt BAFU,Bern (eds), 2010: Schweizerisches Landesforstinventar. Ergebnisse der dritten Erhebung 2004-2006. Birmensdorf, Eidgenössische Forschungsanstalt für Wald, Schnee und Landschaft WSL. 31-113.

Lanz, A.; Brändli, M.; Baltensweiler, A., 2007: A large-scale, long-term view on collecting and sharing landscape data. In: Kienast, F.; Wildi, O.; Ghosh, S. (eds), 2007: A Changing World. Challenges for Landscape Research. Dordrecht, Springer. 93-111.

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Magazine article and brochures

Brändli, U.-B.; Baltensweiler, A.; Bergamini, A.; Ulmer, U.; Schwyzer, A., 2009: Verbreitung und Häufigkeit der Eibe (Taxus baccata) in der Schweiz, Ergebnisse aus dem Landesforstinventar (LFI). Eibenfreund, 43-49.

Supervised theses

Stocker Flavian 2019. Modellierungen von Baumarten der Schweiz mit Einbezug der Bewirtschaftung. BSc thesis, ETH Zürich.

Hertzog Marie 2017. Modelling soil attributes with the Random Forest method for the Swiss forest area. MSc thesis, ETH Zurich. Supervisor Prof. D. Or, Cosupervisors: A. Papritz, L. Walthert.

Hürlimann Raphael 2016. Geostatistical modelling of soil pH based on LiDAR-measurements. MSc thesis, Wageningen University. Supervisor Prof. Gerard Heuvelink.

Lenggenhager Anja 2014. Modellierung der Bodenacidität mit terrestrischem LiDAR im Alptal. MSc thesis University of Zurich. Supervisor Prof. R. Purves.

Allemann Monika 2012. Nachbilden der Bodeneignungskarte für die Waldböden in der Schweiz und ergänzen der Kartierungseinheiten mit Informationen zum Wasser- und Nährstoffspeichervermögen. MSc thesis University of Bern. Supervisor Prof. W. Wilcke, Cosupervisor, L. Walthert.

Nussbaum Madlene 2011. Modellierung des organischen Kohlenstoffgehalts und –vorrats in Schweizer Waldböden. MSc thesis, University of Zurich. Supervisor Prof. M. Schmidt, Cosupervisor A. Papritz.

Camathias Linda 2010. Potential von hochauflösenden Höhenmodellen als Indikatoren für die Biodiversität im Wald. MSc thesis University of Bern. Supervisor PD Dr. S. Wunderle, Cosupervisor A. Bergamini.

Stadelmann, Golo 2008. Modellierung der Waldentwicklung an der Rigi-Nordlehne zur Analyse der Schutzwirkung von Wald gegen Murgang. MSc thesis, ETH Zurich. Supervisor Dr. M. Frehner, Cosupervisors Prof. H. Bugmann, C. Graf.