Lefsky, Michael: Colorado State University (Project Lead)
Saatchi, Sassan: Jet Propulsion Laboratory / Caltech (Institution Lead)
Project Funding:
2009 - 2012
NRA: 2008 NASA: Terrestrial Ecology
Funded by NASA
Abstract:
In the Decadal Survey of Earth Science and Applications From Space, the National Research Council recognized the need for an aboveground biomass mapping capability, and put the DESDnyI (Deformation, Ecosystem Structure and Dynamics of Ice) mission in the first tier of missions recommended to NASA. The DESDynI mission objective most directly relevant to the Terrestrial Ecosystem program is characterization of â€the effect of changing climate and land use on specific habitats and carbon budget†through the development of globally consistent and spatially resolved estimates of aboveground biomass and carbon stocks. The ecosystem structure community has identified data fusion between polarametric backscatter and biomass estimates from lidar data as a solution to achieve both consistency and spatial resolution. That recommendation was based on the strong evidence in the literature and the judgment of the scientific community. So far, there have been no comprehensive studies that attempt to address the specific characteristics of the data fusion and an end-to-end process to produce a global vegetation structure and biomass product. Detailed studies are required at this time to identify the most promising data fusions approaches and provide a quantitative basis for determining the final mission design.
Publications:
Hunter, M. O., Keller, M., Morton, D., Cook, B., Lefsky, M., Ducey, M., Saleska, S., de Oliveira, R. C., Schietti, J. 2015. Structural Dynamics of Tropical Moist Forest Gaps. PLOS ONE. 10(7), e0132144. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0132144
Hunter, M. O., Keller, M., Victoria, D., Morton, D. C. 2013. Tree height and tropical forest biomass estimation. Biogeosciences. 10(12), 8385-8399. DOI: 10.5194/bg-10-8385-2013
Stark, S. C., Enquist, B. J., Saleska, S. R., Leitold, V., Schietti, J., Longo, M., Alves, L. F., Camargo, P. B., Oliveira, R. C. 2015. Linking canopy leaf area and light environments with tree size distributions to explain Amazon forest demography. Ecology Letters. 18(7), 636-645. DOI: 10.1111/ele.12440
Stark, S. C., Leitold, V., Wu, J. L., Hunter, M. O., de Castilho, C. V., Costa, F. R. C., McMahon, S. M., Parker, G. G., Shimabukuro, M. T., Lefsky, M. A., Keller, M., Alves, L. F., Schietti, J., Shimabukuro, Y. E., Brandao, D. O., Woodcock, T. K., Higuchi, N., de Camargo, P. B., de Oliveira, R. C., Saleska, S. R. 2012. Amazon forest carbon dynamics predicted by profiles of canopy leaf area and light environment. Ecology Letters. 15(12), 1406-1414. DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01864.x
2011 NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Joint Science Workshop Poster(s)
- Mapping forest vertical structure and disturbance characteristics with time series of gap-filled Landsat imagery
-- (Eileen H Helmer, Thomas S Ruzycki, Joseph M Wunderle Jr., Charles Kwit, David N. Ewert, Shannon Voggesser)
[abstract]
[poster]
2010 NASA Terrestrial Ecology Science Team Meeting Poster(s)
- Biomass accumulation rates of Amazonian secondary forest and biomass of old-growth forests from Landsat time series and the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System
-- (Eileen H Helmer, Michael A Lefsky, Dar A Roberts)
[abstract]
[poster]
- Vegetation Products from ICESat: A database of GLAS (Geosciences Laser Altimeter System) waveforms and a global map of forest canopy height
-- (Michael A Lefsky, Yong Pang)
[abstract]
More details may be found in the following project profile(s):
