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Draft:Bernhard Höfle

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  • Comment: In accordance with Wikipedia's Conflict of interest policy, I disclose that I have a conflict of interest regarding the subject of this article. LexiCont (talk) 10:25, 11 April 2025 (UTC)

Bernhard Höfle (born 1981 in Innsbruck) is an Austrian geographer, university lecturer and professor of geoinformatics and 3D geodata processing at the Heidelberg University. He is a leading expert and pioneer in the field of Earth observation with laser scanning in geography[1].

Career

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After graduating from the Bundesgymnasium Blumenstraße in Bregenz (Vorarlberg), Höfle studied geography at the University of Innsbruck and Uppsala University in Sweden from 1999 to 2005. He then carried out research at the alpS - Center for Natural Hazard Management in Innsbruck. In 2007, he received his doctoral degree in natural sciences with distinction in geography, specializing in geoinformatics and physical geography. After his thesis, Höfle initially worked as a postdoc at the Institute of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing at the Vienna University of Technology. In 2009, he moved to the Institute of Geoinformatics and Remote Sensing at the Osnabrück University[2].

Höfle has been researching and teaching at the Institute of Geography at Heidelberg University since 2010. From 2011 to 2017, he was a junior professor (W1) for geoinformatics and 3D geodata processing.[3] Since 2018, he has been a professor (W3) for geoinformatics and 3D geodata processing and head of the 3D Geospatial Data Processing (3DGeo) research group. He is also a member of the Heidelberg Center for the Environment (HCE), including from 2013 to 2018 as a member of the executive board and from 2017 to 2018 on the board of directors of the HCE, and has been a member of the Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR) at Heidelberg University since 2017.[4] Höfle also held the position of Dean of Studies at the Faculty of Chemistry and Earth Sciences from 2017 to 2021 and headed the Institute of Geography as Managing Director from 2022 to 2024.[2]

Achievements

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Höfle is the author or co-author of more than 290 publications[5], including around 110 scientific publications in international journals.

Höfle is active as a visiting professor and lecturer at universities, particularly in university teaching: These include in the United States the University of California, Berkeley (2012), in South America the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and the Universidad de Chile (2014), in Asia the National Cheng Kung University Taiwan (2014, 2015, 2017, 2019), in Europe the University of Vienna (2014-2015) and the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain (2018)[6]. He is also active in national and international professional societies such as the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS)[7], the European Geosciences Union (EGU)[8] and the German Society for Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Geoinformation (DGPF).

Main areas of research

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Höfle's research aims to improve our understanding of geographic phenomena. His research focuses on the high spatial and temporal resolution of 3D geodata and near real-time analysis. His research is applied in geomorphology, glaciology, agricultural science and (geo)archaeology, among others.

Höfle's research focuses on the development of innovative methods for automated environmental monitoring with 3D point clouds and machine learning.[9] Höfle already carried out pioneering work with his doctoral thesis, in which he developed an information system and a correction of laser scanning intensity data for point clouds obtained from airborne laser scanning.[10] Building on this, he developed further innovative methods for analyzing 3D/4D point clouds, including methods for the automatic and efficient processing of large datasets obtained by laser scanning as well as for analyzing spatial and temporal changes of the Earth's surface[11], for example glacier changes.[12] By combining permanent laser scanning and  images from uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), Höfle monitored a rock glacier (Äußeres Hochebenkar) in Ötztal, Austria, as part of a time series. He is developing new algorithms to better understand and quantify the observed changes[13].

Höfle has also conducted research on permafrost in the Canadian Arctic[14], precision agriculture[15] and the determination of solar irradiation on building roofs or noise barriers.[16] Höfle's research group, together with the research group of Geomorphology and Soil Geography at Heidelberg University, also succeeded in recording the change in star dunes in Morocco. With the help of high-precision measurements from repeated terrestrial laser scanning, the dune surface dynamics could be depicted in three dimensions for the first time, making it possible to better understand the development of the dune shapes.[17]

In addition to analyzing the datasets collected using state-of-the-art 3D technology such as laser scanning or photogrammetry, Höfle is also working on laser scanning simulation, which is rapidly gaining in importance, especially for training artificial intelligence.[18] His research has resulted in the following scientific open source software:[19]

  • HELIOS++: Heidelberg LiDAR Operations Simulator for the simulation of terrestrial, mobile and airborne laser scanning[20]
  • py4dgeo: Change analysis in multitemporal and 4D point clouds
  • pytreedb: Library for 3D point clouds of trees
  • VOSTOK: Toolbox for modeling solar radiation based on a 3D point cloud

Honors

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2010: Hengstberger Prize winner “Towards Digital Earth - 3D Spatial Data Infrastructures”[21]

Publications (Selection)

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References

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  1. ^ "Highly Cited Researchers 1.212 Scientists Citation Rankings - 20". www.adscientificindex.com. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
  2. ^ a b "Prof. Dr. Bernhard Höfle". www.geog.uni-heidelberg.de. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
  3. ^ "Habilitationen und Berufungen April 2017". www.forschung-und-lehre.de (in German). Retrieved 2025-04-11.
  4. ^ "IWR: Main Research Groups". web.iwr.uni-heidelberg.de. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
  5. ^ "IWR: Main Research Groups". web.iwr.uni-heidelberg.de. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
  6. ^ "Virtual LiDAR simulation as a high performance computing challenge: Towards HPC HELIOS++". citius.gal (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-04-11.
  7. ^ "ISPRS Announcements". www.isprs.org. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
  8. ^ "CO Meeting Organizer EGU2012". meetingorganizer.copernicus.org. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
  9. ^ Esmorís, Alberto M.; Weiser, Hannah; Winiwarter, Lukas; Cabaleiro, Jose C.; Höfle, Bernhard (2024-09-01). "Deep learning with simulated laser scanning data for 3D point cloud classification". ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. 215: 192–213. Bibcode:2024JPRS..215..192E. doi:10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2024.06.018. ISSN 0924-2716.
  10. ^ Höfle, B. (2007): Detection and Utilization of the Information Potential of Airborne Laser Scanning Point Cloud and Intensity Data by Developing a Management and Analysis System. PhD Thesis, Faculty of Geo- and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Innsbruck, Austria, pp. 1–129.
  11. ^ Anders, Katharina; Winiwarter, Lukas; Lindenbergh, Roderik; Williams, Jack G.; Vos, Sander E.; Höfle, Bernhard (2020-01-01). "4D objects-by-change: Spatiotemporal segmentation of geomorphic surface change from LiDAR time series". ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. 159: 352–363. Bibcode:2020JPRS..159..352A. doi:10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2019.11.025. ISSN 0924-2716.
  12. ^ Ulrich, Veit; Williams, Jack G.; Zahs, Vivien; Anders, Katharina; Hecht, Stefan; Höfle, Bernhard (2021-01-07). "Measurement of rock glacier surface change over different timescales using terrestrial laser scanning point clouds". Earth Surface Dynamics. 9 (1): 19–28. Bibcode:2021ESuD....9...19U. doi:10.5194/esurf-9-19-2021. ISSN 2196-6311.
  13. ^ "Mit Geoinformatik die komplexe Veränderung eines Blockgletschers erfassen". www.uni-heidelberg.de (in German). Retrieved 2025-04-11.
  14. ^ Antonova, Sofia; Beck, Inga; Marx, Sabrina; Anders, Katharina; Boike, Julia; Höfle, Bernhard (August 2019). "PermaSAR : Entwicklung einer Methode zur Detektion von Subsidenz in Permafrostgebieten mit D-InSAR : Schlussbericht". EPIC3TIB, 77 p. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
  15. ^ "Forschungsprojekt ESOB". www.geog.uni-heidelberg.de. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
  16. ^ "Kurzbericht aus der Wissenschaft: Nachhaltige Stromerzeugung - Kommunikation und Marketing - Universität Heidelberg". www.uni-heidelberg.de. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
  17. ^ "Mit Laserscanning die Oberflächendynamik von Sterndünen nachvollziehen". www.uni-heidelberg.de (in German). Retrieved 2025-04-11.
  18. ^ Winiwarter, Lukas; Esmorís Pena, Alberto Manuel; Weiser, Hannah; Anders, Katharina; Martínez Sánchez, Jorge; Searle, Mark; Höfle, Bernhard (2022-02-01). "Virtual laser scanning with HELIOS++: A novel take on ray tracing-based simulation of topographic full-waveform 3D laser scanning". Remote Sensing of Environment. 269: 112772. arXiv:2101.09154. Bibcode:2022RSEnv.26912772W. doi:10.1016/j.rse.2021.112772. ISSN 0034-4257.
  19. ^ "3DGeo Research Group, Heidelberg University". GitHub. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
  20. ^ Bechtold, S.; Höfle, B. (2016-06-03). "Helios: A Multi-Purpose Lidar Simulation Framework for Research, Planning and Training of Laser Scanning Operations with Airborne, Ground-Based Mobile and Stationary Platforms". ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences. III-3: 161–168. Bibcode:2016ISPAnIII3..161B. doi:10.5194/isprs-annals-III-3-161-2016. ISSN 2194-9042.
  21. ^ "Hengstbergerpreisträger 2010 - Internationales Wissenschaftsforum Heidelberg - Universität Heidelberg". www.uni-heidelberg.de. Retrieved 2025-04-11.
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