POSTEL is a thematic centre associating R&D and services to describe the soil and vegetation from Earth Observation satellite data, at regional and global scales. It is supported by several national public institutions.

The role of POSTEL is to transform the images acquired by remote sensing earth observation satellites in spatialized indicators describing soil and vegetation properties. These indicators, called "biogeophysical variables", describe for example the vegetal cover fraction, burnt areas, the soil moisture content, the albedo (reflecting power of surfaces), the surface temperature, ...

These biogeophysical variables are useful to the development of knwoledge in climate and environmental sciences, to understand the climatic machinery, ecophysiological processes, surface hydrology, etc.

They are also useful as input to environmental services that use these data, at the same time as other data types (in-situ, agrometeorological models, etc) to produce environment monitoring indicators (water quality, drought or famine risks, desertification, deforestation/reforestation, etc).

The structure of POSTEL is that of a network associating in a perennial way scientific Expertise Centres and a Service Centre. Expertise Centres are responsible of the conception of biogeophysical products, the definition of appropriate algorithms, and validation. The Service Centre is responsible of the design of the operational processing lines, the production and distribution, as well as of the interface with the user community.

POSTEL is supported by national public institutions concerned with science and spatial activities.