Hestir, Erin: University of California Merced (Project Lead)
Project Funding:
2016 - 2018
NRA: 2015 NASA: Biodiversity
Funded by NASA
Abstract:
The Arboreal to Benthic Communities (ABC) Land to Ocean Biodiversity Observations Team (LOBO) study seeks to scope the design of an interdisciplinary project to study the biodiversity, habitat connectivity, and biogeochemical processes in the interconnected
arboreal, water column, and benthic habitats of a major coastal ecosystem of national importance. The system includes major agricultural lands of the South Florida peninsula, growing urban environments, the Everglades, Florida Bay, and the Florida Keys.
The study would link NASA high-altitude airborne campaigns, NASA satellite data, and ongoing in situ work conducted by the NASA/NOAA Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON) and the NSF Florida Coastal Everglades Long Term Ecological Research Network (FCE LTER) programs. The proposal addresses element 2.1.1 Synergistic Use of Imaging Spectroscopy and Lidar Remote Sensing for Biodiversity of the NASA ROSES 2015 A.6.
The scoping study will develop the science traceability matrix needed to define the requirements for airborne and field campaigns focused on biodiversity research. The scoping study will develop the final key questions and study implementation strategy. This includes plans for ER-2 airborne campaigns with the AVIRIS-NG (imaging spectroscopy for terrestrial systems), PRISM (imaging spectroscopy for aquatic systems),HyTES (for water and land surface temperature), and LVIS (LIDAR for canopy structure).
The arboreal-to-benthic community study permits an ecosystem-wide assessment of habitat and organism diversity, productivity, and the drivers of change including connectivity. It also allows investigation of the feedbacks between upstream (terrestrial and fresh water) and downstream (marine) biological, ecological, and environmental factors. Experimenting with remote sensing science to observe biodiversity across the land-ocean boundary is a prerequisite to the design of science traceability requirements and algorithms for coastal ecology suborbital and orbital missions.
The terrestrial-freshwater-marine ecosystem continuum requires innovation in observation to span a broad spectral and dynamic range in reflectance, nadir- and off-nadir observations strategies to minimize background signals from substrate and sunglint, and bidirectional reflectance function. The scoping study will help define signal to noise, vicarious calibration, atmospheric correction, turbid and shallow-water bio-optical algorithm requirements, and wetland observation and implementation strategies for different flooding and seasonal conditions. The study will be guided by the need to detect changes in phenology and in biogeochemical cycles that depend on local processes and on land-ocean connectivity. The scoping study will include guidance for developing and implementing applications for conservation biology and sustainable use of resources.
The project brings together an interdisciplinary team of terrestrial, fresh water, and marine scientists. The advanced NASA airborne capabilities will help extend the ecological scope of the FKNMS MBON, FCE LTER, and related programs to the entire watershed and adjacent nearshore habitats.
Synoptic, high spatial and spectral resolution data on coral reef, sea grasses, wetland, and watershed habitats in the Florida Keys and Everglades are relevant to NASA’s goals in Earth Science and address important aspects of the National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan. The study will effectively extend NASA’s COral Reef Airborne Laboratory (CORAL) mission to Atlantic Ocean habitats, inform the EPA-NASA study on cyanobacteria, and support the European Space Agency (ESA) GlobWetland program for sustainable water management in Africa. The proposed ABC LOBO project will help enable valuation of ecosystem services, help develop conservation and restoration options, and improve wetland management by engaging practitioners in the development of improved applications.
Publications:
Muller-Karger, F. E., Hestir, E., Ade, C., Turpie, K., Roberts, D. A., Siegel, D., Miller, R. J., Humm, D., Izenberg, N., Keller, M., Morgan, F., Frouin, R., Dekker, A. G., Gardner, R., Goodman, J., Schaeffer, B., Franz, B. A., Pahlevan, N., Mannino, A. G., Concha, J. A., Ackleson, S. G., Cavanaugh, K. C., Romanou, A., Tzortziou, M., Boss, E. S., Pavlick, R., Freeman, A., Rousseaux, C. S., Dunne, J., Long, M. C., Klein, E., McKinley, G. A., Goes, J., Letelier, R., Kavanaugh, M., Roffer, M., Bracher, A., Arrigo, K. R., Dierssen, H., Zhang, X., Davis, F. W., Best, B., Guralnick, R., Moisan, J., Sosik, H. M., Kudela, R., Mouw, C. B., Barnard, A. H., Palacios, S., Roesler, C., Drakou, E. G., Appeltans, W., Jetz, W. 2018. Satellite sensor requirements for monitoring essential biodiversity variables of coastal ecosystems. Ecological Applications. 28(3), 749-760. DOI: 10.1002/eap.1682
More details may be found in the following project profile(s):
