Prof. Dr. Michael Wachendorf has headed the Department of Grassland Science and Renewable Plant Resources at the University of Kassel since 2004. He studied Agricultural Sciences at the Universities of Hohenheim and Kiel, where he earned his doctorate and completed his habilitation with research on legume-based grassland systems. His academic career also included extended research stays in Ireland and the United States.

Today, he oversees the scientific direction and strategic development of the department, including its research and teaching activities. Since 2021, he has also served as Vice President for Research at the University of Kassel.

Prof. Dr. Michael Wachendorf oversees research and teaching in the following areas:

• Sensor-Based Characterization of Plant Communities
• Biomass Discovery & Transformation
• Cropping Systems and Bioenergy

2026
Raza, H. A., Scheff, V., von Ahn, M. K., Laner, D., Stenchly, K., Wachendorf, M., & Kaetzl, K. (2026). Optimising and up-scaling residual grassland biomass use through sequential base-acid conditioning. Fuel Processing Technology, 281, 108380. doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2025.108380

Weigelt, L., Wengert, M., Wachendorf, M., & Wijesingha, J. (2026). Spatio-temporal prediction of total and legume dry matter yield using UAV-borne RGB and multispectral images in alfalfa-grass mixtures. Precision Agriculture, 27, Article 8. doi.org/10.1007/s11119-025-10301-w

2025
Siebert, N., Raza, H. A., Bachmann, K., Kaetzl, K., Laner, D., Wachendorf, M., & Morck, T. (2025). Adsorption of organic micropollutants on biogenic activated carbon: Potential of kitchen waste and woody residues as feedstocks for advanced wastewater treatment. Journal of Environmental Management, 394, 127476. doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.127476

Beila, I., Hoffstede, U., Kasten, J., Beil, M., Wachendorf, M., & Wijesingha, J. (2025). Remote sensing-based long-term assessment of bioenergy policy impact on agricultural land cover change: A case study of biogas in the Weser-Ems region in Germany. Science of the Total Environment, 1003, 180667. doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.180667

Kaetzl, K., Riegel, M., Joseph, B., Ossenbrink, R., Gerber, H., Gwenzi, W., Morck, T., Laner, D., Heinrich, T., Kromrey, V., Friedrich, K., Wachendorf, M., & Stenchly, K. (2025). Biogenic activated carbons from conservation grassland biomass for organic micropollutants removal in municipal wastewater. Environmental Science and Ecotechnology, 26, 100588. doi.org/10.1016/j.ese.2025.100588

Wengert, M., Piepho, H.-P., Astor, T., Graß, R., Wachendorf, M., & Wijesingha, J. (2025). Spatial-temporal heterogeneity of yield, protein concentration, and leaf area index in grassland agroforestry systems can be modeled from UAV-borne imagery. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 237, 110575. doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2025.110575

Wijesingha, J., Astor, T., Nautiyal, S., & Wachendorf, M. (2025). Spatial patterns and characteristics of urban–rural agricultural landscapes: A case study of Bengaluru, India. Land, 14(2), 208. doi.org/10.3390/land14020208

2024
Wijesingha, J., Dzene, I., & Wachendorf, M. (2024). Evaluating the spatial–temporal transferability of models for agricultural land cover mapping using Landsat archive. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 213, 72–86. doi.org/10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2024.05.020

Hu, J., Wachendorf, M., Gwenzi, W., Joseph, B., Stenchly, K., & Kaetzl, K. (2024). Improving acid-stressed anaerobic digestion processes with biochar – towards a combined biomass and carbon management system. Environmental Research Communications, 6, 035010. doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ad2bb7

2023
Schmidt, F. E., Böhm, H., Piepho, H.-P., Urbatzka, P., Wachendorf, M., & Graß, R. (2023). Yield stability of silage maize double cropping systems across nine German environments. Frontiers in Agronomy, 5, 1235034. doi.org/10.3389/fagro.2023.1235034

Veldkamp, E., Schmidt, M., Markwitz, C., et al. (2023). Multifunctionality of temperate alley-cropping agroforestry outperforms open cropland and grassland. Communications Earth & Environment, 4, 20. doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00680-1

Hu, J., Stenchly, K., Gwenzi, W., Wachendorf, M., & Kaetzl, K. (2023). Critical evaluation of biochar effects on methane production and process stability in anaerobic digestion. Frontiers in Energy Research, 11, 1205818. doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2023.1205818

Schmidt, F. E., Böhm, H., Graß, R., Wachendorf, M., & Piepho, H.-P. (2023). Management Effect on the Weed Control Efficiency in Double Cropping Systems. Agronomy, 13(2), 467. doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13020467

Bürkert, A., Piepho, H.-P., Sourav, S. K., Hoffmann, E., Vazhacharickal, P. J., Subbarayappa, C. T., & Wachendorf, M. (2023). Agricultural intensification effects on spatial growth variability of staple crops in south India. Field Crops Research, 301, 109032. doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2023.109032

2022
Wengert, M., Wijesingha, J., Schulze-Brüninghoff, D., Wachendorf, M., & Astor, T. (2022). Multisite and Multitemporal Grassland Yield Estimation Using UAV-Borne Hyperspectral Data. Remote Sensing, 14(9), 2068. doi.org/10.3390/rs14092068

Nidamanuri, R. R., Jayakumari, R., Ramiya, A. M., Astor, T., Wachendorf, M., & Bürkert, A. (2022). High-resolution multispectral imagery and LiDAR point cloud fusion for the discrimination and biophysical characterisation of vegetable crops at different levels of nitrogen. Biosystems Engineering, 222, 177–195. doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2022.08.005

Schmidt, F. E., Böhm, H., Piepho, H.-P., Urbatzka, P., Wachendorf, M., & Graß, R. (2022). Management Effects on the Performance of Double Cropping Systems—Results from a Multi-Site Experiment. Agronomy, 12(9), 2104. doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12092104

Cunliffe, A. M., Anderson, K., Boschetti, F., et al. (2022). Global application of an unoccupied aerial vehicle photogrammetry protocol for predicting aboveground biomass in non-forest ecosystems. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation, 8(1), 57–71. doi.org/10.1002/rse2.228

2021
Grüner, E., Astor, T., & Wachendorf, M. (2021). Prediction of Biomass and N Fixation of Legume–Grass Mixtures Using Sensor Fusion. Frontiers in Plant Science, 11, 603921. doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.603921

Corton, J., Donnison, I. S., Ross, A. B., Lea-Langton, A. R., Wachendorf, M., & Fraser, M. D. (2021). Impact of vegetation type and pre-processing on product yields and properties following hydrothermal conversion of conservation biomass. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 137, 110462. doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2020.110462

Dzene, I., Hensgen, F., Graß, R., & Wachendorf, M. (2021). Net Energy Balance and Fuel Quality of an Alley Cropping System Combining Grassland and Willow: Results of the 2nd Rotation. Agronomy, 11(7), 1272. doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11071272

Kyere, I., Astor, T., Graß, R., Fricke, T., & Wachendorf, M. (2021). Spatio-temporal analysis of the effects of biogas production on agricultural lands. Land Use Policy, 102, 105240. doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.105240

Reji, J., Nidamanuri, R. R., Ramiya, A. M., Astor, T., Wachendorf, M., & Buerkert, A. (2021). Multi-temporal estimation of vegetable crop biophysical parameters with varied nitrogen fertilization using terrestrial laser scanning. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 184, 106051. doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2021.106051

Schulze-Brüninghoff, D., Wachendorf, M., & Astor, T. (2021). Remote sensing data fusion as a tool for biomass prediction in extensive grasslands invaded by L. polyphyllus. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation, 7(2), 198–213. doi.org/10.1002/rse2.182

Schulze-Brüninghoff, D., Wachendorf, M., & Astor, T. (2021). Potentials and Limitations of WorldView-3 Data for the Detection of Invasive Lupinus polyphyllus Lindl. in Semi-Natural Grasslands. Remote Sensing, 13(21), 4333. doi.org/10.3390/rs13214333

Wengert, M., Piepho, H.-P., Astor, T., Graß, R., Wijesingha, J., & Wachendorf, M. (2021). Assessing Spatial Variability of Barley Whole Crop Biomass Yield and Leaf Area Index in Silvoarable Agroforestry Systems Using UAV-Borne Remote Sensing. Remote Sensing, 13(14), 2751. doi.org/10.3390/rs13142751

Wijesingha, J., Dayananda, S., Wachendorf, M., & Astor, T. (2021). Comparison of Spaceborne and UAV-Borne Remote Sensing Spectral Data for Estimating Monsoon Crop Vegetation Parameters. Sensors, 21(8), 2886. doi.org/10.3390/s21082886

2020
Astor, T., Dayananda, S., Nautiyal, S., & Wachendorf, M. (2020). Vegetable Crop Biomass Estimation Using Hyperspectral and RGB 3D UAV Data. Agronomy, 10(10), 1600. doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10101600

Graß, R., Malec, S., & Wachendorf, M. (2020). Biomass Performance and Competition Effects in an Established Temperate Agroforestry System of Willow and Grassland—Results of the 2nd Rotation. Agronomy, 10(11), 1819. doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10111819

Grüner, E., Wachendorf, M., & Astor, T. (2020). The potential of UAV-borne spectral and textural information for predicting aboveground biomass and N fixation in legume-grass mixtures. PLOS ONE, 15(6), e0234703. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234703

Joseph, B., Hensgen, F., & Wachendorf, M. (2020). Life Cycle Assessment of bioenergy production from mountainous grasslands invaded by lupine (Lupinus polyphyllus Lindl.). Journal of Environmental Management, 275, 111182. doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111182

Joseph, B., Kaetzl, K., Hensgen, F., Schäfer, B., & Wachendorf, M. (2020). Sustainability assessment of activated carbon from residual biomass used for micropollutant removal at a full-scale wastewater treatment plant. Environmental Research Letters, 15(6), 064023. doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab8330

Kyere, I., Astor, T., Graß, R., & Wachendorf, M. (2020). Agricultural crop discrimination in a heterogeneous low-mountain range region based on multi-temporal and multi-sensor satellite data. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 179, 105864. doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2020.105864

Wijesingha, J., Astor, T., Schulze-Brüninghoff, D., Wengert, M., & Wachendorf, M. (2020). Predicting Forage Quality of Grasslands Using UAV-Borne Imaging Spectroscopy. Remote Sensing, 12(1), 126. doi.org/10.3390/rs12010126

Wijesingha, J., Astor, T., Schulze-Brüninghoff, D., & Wachendorf, M. (2020). Mapping Invasive Lupinus polyphyllus Lindl. in Semi-natural Grasslands Using Object-Based Image Analysis of UAV-borne Images. PFG – Journal of Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Geoinformation Science, 88, 391–406. doi.org/10.1007/s41064-020-00121-0