Project Funding: 2008 - 2011

NRA: 2007 NASA: Carbon Cycle Science   

Funded by NASA

Abstract:
Problem Statement: We propose to use satellite data and simulation modeling to investigate large areas within North America that have experienced major gross primary production reductions from 1982 to 2007 and beyond. Analysis Method: We propose to use 8-km grid cell size inter-calibrated advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data to identify large regions (>100,000 km2) in North America that have experienced marked systematic reductions in NDVI for any times between 1982 and 2007; Use Landsat data, hyper-spatial commercial satellite data, aerial photography, climatological data, logging records, fire records, etc. to determine the causes of the NDVI natural and anthropogenic disturbances and map their associated land-cover/land-use change at Landsat 30 m resolution. Specifically we propose to determine if the large-scale NDVI anomalies identified above are due to land use/land cover change and/or to climate; and Use the information gained from the first two points above to drive simulation models of the carbon cycle to determine the carbon implications of the areas identified. These simulations will investigate the carbon balance for all of North America and improve disturbance implications in the calculation of net ecosystem production (NEP) across North America Significance: Previous work we performed in 2005 to 2007 identified increases in NEP following a variety of disturbances including: fire, logging, insect outbreaks, agriculture expansion, and climatic influences (principally extension of the growing season due to increased temperature) over the 1982-2005 time periods. We propose to extend this work by investigating negative trends in NDVI (decreases in gross primary production) and incorporate this information with previous work in which we have parameterized disturbance dynamics. Our CASA simulations utilize NDVI to calculate NPP biomass allocated to terrestrial pools on a bimonthly time step, deliver biomass to detritus/soil pools, and respire carbon through heterotrophic decomposition. Our multi-spectral multi-spatial understanding of disturbance, integrated in simulation modeling, will result in an improved carbon balance understanding for North America. Relevance to NASA: Our proposal addresses several key questions about the role of land use and land cover change and climate in the North American carbon cycle. Furthermore, our proposed work extensively uses satellite data to obtain key information that we link with numerical models to simulate the carbon cycle consequences of land use and land cover change and climate in the North American carbon cycle.

Publications:

Forkel, M., Carvalhais, N., Verbesselt, J., Mahecha, M., Neigh, C., Reichstein, M. 2013. Trend Change Detection in NDVI Time Series: Effects of Inter-Annual Variability and Methodology. Remote Sensing. 5(5), 2113-2144. DOI: 10.3390/rs5052113

Neigh, C., Bolton, D., Diabate, M., Williams, J., Carvalhais, N. 2014. An Automated Approach to Map the History of Forest Disturbance from Insect Mortality and Harvest with Landsat Time-Series Data. Remote Sensing. 6(4), 2782-2808. DOI: 10.3390/rs6042782

Neigh, C., Bolton, D., Williams, J., Diabate, M. 2014. Evaluating an Automated Approach for Monitoring Forest Disturbances in the Pacific Northwest from Logging, Fire and Insect Outbreaks with Landsat Time Series Data. Forests. 5(12), 3169-3198. DOI: 10.3390/f5123169

Neigh, C.S.R. (2009). Determining Carbon Consequences of Vegetation Change Dynamics in North America with Long-Term Multi-Resolution Data. The Earth Observer, 21 (1), 28-34.

2008 NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Joint Science Workshop Posters

• Midwest Agriculture Land Cover Change Implications to North American Carbon Balance 1982-2005   --   (Christopher Sean Neigh, Nuno Carvlhais, G. Jim Collatz, Compton Jim Tucker)   [abstract]