Sustainable development is by now generally accepted as the paramount objective of environmental policy. Environmental applications of Earth observation, on the other hand, have been successfully demonstrated over a wide range of monitoring activities, mostly with the aim of describing the spatial distribution and time course of geophysical parameters and land surface structures. With landuse structures being of major influence on the sustainability of terrestrial ecosystems, and being also a highly suitable object of Earth observation, it is still an open question, however, in which way Earth observation data can be processed and integrated to provide an approximate indicator of sustainability. Based on an ecological sustainability model developed by Ripl and his co-workers at Berlin Technical University, this question was investigated in the framework of the joint project "Development of a Land-Water-Management Concept to Decrease Matter Losses to Open Waters" (Stor project), which was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Technology. Present results may be summarized as follows: 1. Apart from hydrological point measurements, there are several spatial parameters which are of indicative value as to sustainability, especially the spatio-temporal distribution of biomass, surface temperature, and precipitation. 2. To provide the spatial information basis for enhanced efficiency of immediate measures such as reforestation, agricultural extension etc., a global information system (GIS) concept was developed and demonstrated which is based on a landuse/vegetation classification derived from Landsat TM data, a digital evaluation mode (DEM) and a relief dependent water distribution model (WDM). Further implications such as the organisation of information systems which are to serve sustainability strategies are discussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
