Remote Sensing and Terrestrial Carbon Fluxes

 
 

Summer 2006 Proposed Research

A great deal of research has been devoted to developing and applying new methods for measuring exchanges of mass and energy between the biosphere and atmosphere at scales ranging from a single leaf to the globe. Remote sensing of vegetative optical properties has shown much promise as a viable approach for estimating the exchange of carbon dioxide and water over the continuum of spatial scales. The development and validation of remote sensing products, developed from unique spectral signatures, for calculations such as Net Primary Productivity (NPP), requires independent measures to verify results. One such independent confirmation is tower- and aircraft-based eddy covariance flux measurements.

We will use CO2 flux data collected from the Ameriflux tower located at the University of Michigan Biological Station to compare with narrow-band spectral reflectance measurements of the canopy surrounding the tower. Our objectives for this study are:

1) Identify unique spectral signatures that correspond with the changing canopy atmosphere exchanges of carbon dioxide and water during the period of rapid leaf-out.

2) Investigate the spatial and temporal variability of spectral signatures across the plant canopy surrounding the tower.

The results from this investigation will ultimately be used to guide further research conducted in association with Dr. Paul Shepson’s Airborne Laboratory for Atmospheric Research and their aircraft-based flux instrumentation. We plan to incorporate our spectroradiometer as part of the onboard instrumentation during flights to be conducted July 2006 at UMBS. This research will investigate the variability of canopy-atmosphere fluxes, measured via spectral reflectance, within the aircraft and tower-based flux footprints.

Researchers

Lee Vierling
Steve Garrity
Paul Shepson
Doug Martins