Up-to-date information about current land use patterns and the condition of the ecosystem are fundamental prerequisites for spatial planning and nature protection. The detection of alterations in the Alpine environment supports climate change impact research and the identification of possible problems in the future. Service development in mountain regions needs to take into account the great variety of population densities, economic activities and traffic volume relating to differences in relief and altitude. Accordingly, the Institute applies state-of-the-art satellite imagery classification and change detection methodologies corresponding to specific user demands. If requested, we implement object-oriented approaches and texture analysis of very high resolution data, combined with a statistical calssifier of medium resolution images in one area of interest. This is done in order to match the user's defined level of accurcy in the most efficient way.