Application of Airborne Remote Sensing to Define Terrestrial Ecosystem Form & Function

Lawrence A Corp, SSAI, lawrence.a.corp@nasa.gov (Presenter)
Bruce Cook, NASA GSFC, bruce.cook@nasa.gov
Elizabeth M. Middleton, NASA GSFC, elizabeth.m.middleton@nasa.gov

Airborne remote sensing observations can provide timely, spatially explicit information for monitoring terrestrial ecosystems. Goddard’s Lidar Hyperspectral Thermal Airborne Imager (G-LiHT) is a unique system that integrates commercial off the shelf LiDAR, hyperspectral, and thermal components to produce a compact, lightweight and portable system that can be used on a wide range of airborne platforms to support a number of NASA Earth Science research projects and space-based missions. G-LiHT permits simultaneous measurements of vegetation structure, foliar spectra and surface temperatures. The complementary nature lidar, optical, and thermal data provide an analytical framework for the development of new algorithms for mapping plant species composition, plant functional types, biodiversity, biomass and carbon stocks, and plant growth. Here we will use G-LiHT data acquisitions over the Duke Forest research site in North Carolina and explore relationships between higher level airborne remote sensing data products and carbon cycling in forested ecosystems. Much of the Forest exhibits rolling terrain with an elevation range from 300 to 500 feet above sea level. Over 100 species of trees have been identified in the Duke Forest. The major types in descending order of prevalence are pine, pine-hardwood, upland hardwood, and bottomland hardwood. Since forests have different phenological cycles, LAI, and other biophysical properties, the vegetation indices and spectral signals within and among forest cover types may not lead to a universal solution for tracking productivity. However, full spectral imaging of high temporal frequency used alone or in combination with additional remote sensing observations such as LiDAR derived canopy structure could offer substantial quantitative improvements in ecosystem assessments. The goal of these efforts is to further remote sensing techniques to enhance our understanding of ecosystem form & function. The specific objectives of this research are; identify remote sensing techniques that consistently track biophysical changes indicative of productivity, establish the performance of these techniques across observation levels and through time, and to further define algorithms and products applicable to future satellite missions.

Presentation Type:  Poster

Session:  General Contributions   (Tue 4:35 PM)

Associated Project(s): 

• Middleton, Betsy: Spectral Bio-Indicators of Ecosystem Photosynthetic Efficiency II: Synthesis and Integration ...details

Poster Location ID: 126