Project Funding: 2008 - 2011

NRA: 2007 NASA: Carbon Cycle Science   

Funded by USDA FS, NASA

Abstract:
Information on forest disturbance and regrowth is essential for understanding North American carbon dynamics, and the future of the current “carbon sink”. Moderate-resolution (Landsat-type) satellite data provide the only means of constructing spatially-explicit, temporally-detailed disturbance records. This proposal seeks to continue our team’s ongoing research to generate a comprehensive record of North American disturbance and regrowth from the Landsat archive. The work relies on the use of dense (annual or biennial) time series of Landsat imagery (“data cubes”), which may be analyzed at the 30m pixel-level, using time series methodologies. Our previous work focused on obtaining a valid statistical sample of disturbance rates using 23 Landsat data cubes spread across US Forests. We also demonstrated techniques to obtain changes in aboveground live biomass associated with disturbance and regrowth by integrating Landsat reflectance trajectories with US Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis Program (FIA) plot-level biomass data. This proposal has six major objectives: These include: (1) Reduce error in nationwide estimates of forest disturbance and regrowth, (2) Convert data cube reflectance to data cube biomass, (3) Develop nationwide maps of forest biomass dynamics, (4) Partner with Canada and Mexico, (5) Develop formal collaborative relationships with other NACP-funded scientists, and (6) Quantify the forest component of woody encroachment nationally. Collectively, these activities will expand and refine our knowledge of North American forest dynamics, and thus significantly reduce uncertainties in carbon flux estimates.

Publications:

Campbell, J. L., Kennedy, R. E., Cohen, W. B., Miller, R. F. 2012. Assessing the Carbon Consequences of Western Juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) Encroachment Across Oregon, USA. Rangeland Ecology & Management. 65(3), 223-231. DOI: 10.2111/REM-D-11-00012.1

Goward, S.N., Masek, J.G., Cohen, W., Moisen, G., Collatz, G.J., Healey, S., Houghton, R., Huang, C., Kennedy, R., Law, B., Powell, S., Turner, D., & Wulder, M.A. (2008). 'Forest disturbance and North American carbon flux.' Eos Transactions, 89, 105-116.

Huang, C., Goward, S. N., Masek, J. G., Gao, F., Vermote, E. F., Thomas, N., Schleeweis, K., Kennedy, R. E., Zhu, Z., Eidenshink, J. C., Townshend, J. R. 2009. Development of time series stacks of Landsat images for reconstructing forest disturbance history. International Journal of Digital Earth. 2(3), 195-218. DOI: 10.1080/17538940902801614

Huang, C., Goward, S. N., Schleeweis, K., Thomas, N., Masek, J. G., Zhu, Z. 2009. Dynamics of national forests assessed using the Landsat record: Case studies in eastern United States. Remote Sensing of Environment. 113(7), 1430-1442. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2008.06.016

Huang, C., Goward, S. N., Masek, J. G., Thomas, N., Zhu, Z., Vogelmann, J. E. 2010. An automated approach for reconstructing recent forest disturbance history using dense Landsat time series stacks. Remote Sensing of Environment. 114(1), 183-198. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2009.08.017

Huang, C., Thomas, N., Goward, S. N., Masek, J. G., Zhu, Z., Townshend, J. R. G., Vogelmann, J. E. 2010. Automated masking of cloud and cloud shadow for forest change analysis using Landsat images. International Journal of Remote Sensing. 31(20), 5449-5464. DOI: 10.1080/01431160903369642

Huang, C., Goward, S. N., Schleeweis, K., Thomas, N., Masek, J. G., Zhu, Z. 2009. Dynamics of national forests assessed using the Landsat record: Case studies in eastern United States. Remote Sensing of Environment. 113(7), 1430-1442. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2008.06.016

Huang, C., Song, K., Kim, S., Townshend, J. R., Davis, P., Masek, J. G., Goward, S. N. 2008. Use of a dark object concept and support vector machines to automate forest cover change analysis. Remote Sensing of Environment. 112(3), 970-985. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2007.07.023

Huang, C., Schleeweis, K., Thomas, N. & Goward, S.N. (2011). Forest dynamics within and around the Olympic National Park assessed using time series Landsat observations. In: Y. Wang (Ed.), Remote Sensing of Protected Lands (pp. 71-93), London: Taylor & Francis.

Kennedy, R. E., Yang, Z., Cohen, W. B., Pfaff, E., Braaten, J., Nelson, P. 2012. Spatial and temporal patterns of forest disturbance and regrowth within the area of the Northwest Forest Plan. Remote Sensing of Environment. 122, 117-133. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2011.09.024

Kennedy, R. E., Yang, Z., Cohen, W. B. 2010. Detecting trends in forest disturbance and recovery using yearly Landsat time series: 1. LandTrendr -- Temporal segmentation algorithms. Remote Sensing of Environment. 114(12), 2897-2910. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2010.07.008

Kennedy, R. E., Cohen, W. B., Schroeder, T. A. 2007. Trajectory-based change detection for automated characterization of forest disturbance dynamics. Remote Sensing of Environment. 110(3), 370-386. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2007.03.010

Masek, J. G., Collatz, G. J. 2006. Estimating forest carbon fluxes in a disturbed southeastern landscape: Integration of remote sensing, forest inventory, and biogeochemical modeling. Journal of Geophysical Research. 111(G1). DOI: 10.1029/2005JG000062

Masek, J. G., Huang, C., Wolfe, R., Cohen, W., Hall, F., Kutler, J., Nelson, P. 2008. North American forest disturbance mapped from a decadal Landsat record. Remote Sensing of Environment. 112(6), 2914-2926. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2008.02.010

Masek, J. G., Vermote, E. F., Saleous, N. E., Wolfe, R., Hall, F. G., Huemmrich, K. F., Gao, F., Kutler, J., Lim, T. 2006. A Landsat Surface Reflectance Dataset for North America, 1990-2000. IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters. 3(1), 68-72. DOI: 10.1109/LGRS.2005.857030

Masek, J. G., Goward, S. N., Kennedy, R. E., Cohen, W. B., Moisen, G. G., Schleeweis, K., Huang, C. 2013. United States Forest Disturbance Trends Observed Using Landsat Time Series. Ecosystems. 16(6), 1087-1104. DOI: 10.1007/s10021-013-9669-9

Nelson, M.D., Moisen, G.G., Finco, M., & Brewer, K. (2007). Forest Inventory and Analysis in the United States: Remote sensing and geospatial activities. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 73, 729-732.

Ohmann, J. L., Gregory, M. J., Roberts, H. M., Cohen, W. B., Kennedy, R. E., Yang, Z. 2012. Mapping change of older forest with nearest-neighbor imputation and Landsat time-series. Forest Ecology and Management. 272, 13-25. DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2011.09.021

Pflugmacher, D., Cohen, W. B., E. Kennedy, R. 2012. Using Landsat-derived disturbance history (1972-2010) to predict current forest structure. Remote Sensing of Environment. 122, 146-165. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2011.09.025

Pflugmacher, D., Cohen, W. B., Kennedy, R. E., Yang, Z. 2014. Using Landsat-derived disturbance and recovery history and lidar to map forest biomass dynamics. Remote Sensing of Environment. 151, 124-137. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2013.05.033

Powell, S. L., Cohen, W. B., Kennedy, R. E., Healey, S. P., Huang, C. 2013. Observation of Trends in Biomass Loss as a Result of Disturbance in the Conterminous U.S.: 1986-2004. Ecosystems. 17(1), 142-157. DOI: 10.1007/s10021-013-9713-9

Powell, S.L, R.L. Lawrence, C. Sommers Austin, S. Wood. (2010). A flexible approach to help overcome limitations of moderate resolution satellite imagery for mapping invasive saltcedar on the Bighorn River, Montana. Journal of Terrestrial Observation 2(2): 9-22.

Schleeweis, K., Goward, S. N., Huang, C., Masek, J. G., Moisen, G., Kennedy, R. E., Thomas, N. E. 2013. Regional dynamics of forest canopy change and underlying causal processes in the contiguous U.S. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences. 118(3), 1035-1053. DOI: 10.1002/jgrg.20076

Schroeder, T. A., Wulder, M. A., Healey, S. P., Moisen, G. G. 2012. Detecting post-fire salvage logging from Landsat change maps and national fire survey data. Remote Sensing of Environment. 122, 166-174. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2011.10.031

Schroeder, T.A., S.P. Healey, G.G. Moisen. 2012. Evaluating the compatibility of American and Mexican national forest inventory data. In: McWilliams, Will; Roesch, Francis A. eds. 2012. Monitoring Across Borders: 2010 Joint Meeting of the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Symposium and the Southern Mensurationists. e-Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-157. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 15-22.

Schroeder, T. A., Wulder, M. A., Healey, S. P., Moisen, G. G. 2011. Mapping wildfire and clearcut harvest disturbances in boreal forests with Landsat time series data. Remote Sensing of Environment. 115(6), 1421-1433. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2011.01.022

Schroeder, T. A., Cohen, W. B., Yang, Z. 2007. Patterns of forest regrowth following clearcutting in western Oregon as determined from a Landsat time-series. Forest Ecology and Management. 243(2-3), 259-273. DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2007.03.019

Stueve, K. M., Perry, C. H., Nelson, M. D., Healey, S. P., Hill, A. D., Moisen, G. G., Cohen, W. B., Gormanson, D. D., Huang, C. 2011. Ecological importance of intermediate windstorms rivals large, infrequent disturbances in the northern Great Lakes. Ecosphere. 2(1), art2. DOI: 10.1890/ES10-00062.1

Thomas, N. E., Huang, C., Goward, S. N., Powell, S., Rishmawi, K., Schleeweis, K., Hinds, A. 2011. Validation of North American Forest Disturbance dynamics derived from Landsat time series stacks. Remote Sensing of Environment. 115(1), 19-32. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2010.07.009

Uribe, A. S., S. P. Healey, G. G. Moisen, R. P. Rivas, E. G. Aguilar, C. L. M. Tovar, E. S. Davalos, and V. S. Mascorro. 2008. The Potential Impact of Mexico's New Forest Inventory on Consistent Monitoring of Continental-Scale Carbon Dynamics. EOS Transactions 89 (47)

Williams, C. A., Collatz, G. J., Masek, J., Huang, C., Goward, S. N. 2014. Impacts of disturbance history on forest carbon stocks and fluxes: Merging satellite disturbance mapping with forest inventory data in a carbon cycle model framework. Remote Sensing of Environment. 151, 57-71. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2013.10.034

Williams, C. A., Collatz, G. J., Masek, J., Goward, S. N. 2012. Carbon consequences of forest disturbance and recovery across the conterminous United States. Global Biogeochemical Cycles. 26(1). DOI: 10.1029/2010GB003947

Wulder, M. A., White, J. C., Goward, S. N., Masek, J. G., Irons, J. R., Herold, M., Cohen, W. B., Loveland, T. R., Woodcock, C. E. 2008. Landsat continuity: Issues and opportunities for land cover monitoring. Remote Sensing of Environment. 112(3), 955-969. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2007.07.004

2013 NASA Terrestrial Ecology Science Team Meeting Poster(s)

• Forest Structure and Biomass Mapping Using Time Series Landsat Observations, Small Footprint Lidar, and Field Inventory Data in North Carolina   --   (Chengquan Huang)   [abstract]

2011 NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Joint Science Workshop Poster(s)

• Lessons from a Regional thru Local look at Forest Canopy Changes and Causal Processes in the Contiguous US: 1984-2005   --   (Karen Schleeweis, Chengquan Huang, Samuel N. Goward, Jeffrey Masek, Robert E Kennedy, Gretchen Moisen, Nancy Thomas)   [abstract]

2010 NASA Terrestrial Ecology Science Team Meeting Poster(s)

• Integration of long term Landsat observations with DESDynI measurements for monitoring terrestrial carbon fluxes within and beyond the DESDynI mission   --   (Chengquan Huang, Ralph Dubayah, George Hurtt, Jeffrey G Masek, Samuel N Goward)   [abstract]
• Assessment of trends in live, aboveground biomass for the conterminous U.S.   --   (Scott L. Powell, Warren B. Cohen, Robert E. Kennedy)   [abstract]
• Conterminous U.S. Forest Disturbance Dynamics Evaluated from Landsat Time Series Stacks   --   (Nancy E. Thomas, Samuel N. Goward, Robert Kennedy, Jeffrey G. Masek, Warren B. Cohen, Gretchen G. Moisen, Chengquan Huang, Karen Schleeweis)   [abstract]

2008 NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Joint Science Workshop Posters

• Investigating relationships between Landsat TM/ETM+ surface reflectance data and stand-specific forest inventory parameters using empirical regression and forest radiative transfer models.   --   (Khaldoun Rishmawi, Nancy Thomas, Samuel N Goward)   [abstract]
• Validation of Near-Annual Resolution Forest Change Maps Derived from Landsat Data   --   (Warren B. Cohen, Maria Fiorella, Robert E. Kennedy, Zhiqiang Yang, Scott L. Powell, Melinda Moeur)   [abstract]   [poster]
• International Cooperation to Provide Consistent Landsat-based Estimates of Forest Carbon Dynamics in North America   --   (Sean P. Healey, Gretchen G. Moisen, Alberto Sandoval Uribe, Michael A. Wulder, Samuel N. Goward, Warren B. Cohen, Jeffrey G. Masek, Robert E. Kennedy, Scott L. Powell, Chenquan Huang)   [abstract]
• Two decades of forest disturbance and regrowth across the United States evaluated using the Landsat record for the North American Carbon Program   --   (Samuel N. Goward, Chengquan Huang, Nancy Thomas, Jeffrey G. Masek, Warren B. Cohen, Gretchen G. Moisen, Scott L. Powell, Robert B. Kennedy, Sean P. Healey, Karen Schleeweis, Khaldoun Rishwami)   [abstract]
• A First Look at Regional Patterns of Forest Disturbance Rates from the North American Forest Dynamics (NAFD) Project   --   (Samuel N. Goward, Warren B. Cohen, Gretchen G. Moisen, Jeffrey G. Masek, Chengquan Huang, Robert B. Kennedy, Nancy Thomas, Karen G. Schleeweis, Scott L. Powell, Sean P. Healey, Khaldoun Rishwami)   [abstract]
• Applications of North American Forest Dynamics technology within the Forest Inventory and Analysis program   --   (Gretchen Moisen, Sean Healey, Mark Nelson, Randy Morin, John Shaw, Will McWilliams, Rachel Riemann, Brett Butler, Jock Blackard, Sam Goward, Warren Cohen, Jeff Masek)   [abstract]
• A Strategy for Developing Earth Science Data Records of Global Forest Cover Change   --   (John R Townshend, Chengquan Huang, Jeffrey G. Masek, Matthew C. Hansen, Ruth S. DeFries, Samuel N. Goward, Compton J. Tucker)   [abstract]
• Decoding the Landsat Record of Forest Disturbance History   --   (Chengquan Huang, Samuel N. Goward, Jeffrey G. Masek, Zhiliang Zhu, Nancy Thomas, Karen Schleeweis, Mingshi Li, Hua Shi, Scott Powell)   [abstract]
• Comparison of methods to model aboveground biomass and derive 20+ year aboveground biomass trajectories   --   (Scott L Powell, Robert E Kennedy, Sean P Healey, Ken B Pierce, Warren B Cohen, Gretchen G Moisen, Janet L Ohmann)   [abstract]   [poster]

More details may be found in the following project profile(s):

• NASA Terrestrial Ecology (TE) Project Profile
• North American Carbon Program (NACP) Project Profile