Research activities in the Cartography and GIS Research Group (CGIS) mainly focus on land-use/land-cover mapping from remotely sensed data, with emphasis on urban areas, and on spatial analysis of urban dynamics. Special attention in the remote sensing work goes to the use of knowledge-based methods and machine learning approaches for image interpretation, relying on spectral, textural as well as contextual information. Remote sensing and GIS-driven approaches are developed for monitoring and modelling of urban dynamics, in relation to urban ecology and urban sustainability issues. Specific research topics include mapping and monitoring of urban sprawl, remote-sensing driven calibration of urban growth models, urban green monitoring, urban quality-of-life assessment, analysis of urban form, and impacts of urban growth on the water balance in urbanised areas. Developing methods to extract information from remotely sensed data that is useful for local and regional decision making is an important concern in most of the work done by the lab.