Doctoral Dissertation Research: Intensive Phenological Monitoring of Wisconsin's Northern Mixed Forest, Integrating In-situ and Remote Sensing Observations

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Springtime plant phenology (onset of growth) is a critical indicator of biospheric response to global climate change. It also opens up possibilities to further understand lower atmospheric boundary layer dynamics and biosphere-atmosphere energy/matter exchange. With data from satellite observations and bioclimatic modeling becoming more available over the past decade, phenology is even more relevant for large scale ecosystem monitoring. However, due to the lack of intensive ground measurements which would allow precise validation of satellite data at the pixel level, the precision of information from remote sensors is still less than desired. To fully release the power of phenological monitoring, surface phenology across a landscape needs to be observed and characterized in a well-planned manner. This study is characterizing spring plant phenology at the landscape scale, and preparing a methodological base that includes spatially distributed field observations, in order to facilitate more reliable and integrated phenological monitoring of vegetation dynamics. These in-situ data, as well as corresponding satellite data, soil survey data, DEMs, etc. will be analyzed with statistics, spatial analysis, geostatistics, and digital image processing techniques. This grant will support a second year spring field campaign and research equipment maintenance/improvement. This project will be among the first to incorporate substantial ground-level phenology at high temporal and spatial resolution to characterize plant phenology and biosphere-atmosphere interactions at the landscape level. The nature of these data will allow reasonable validation of satellite-derived phenological indices by bringing two scales of observation to the same resolution. This proposed study is thus also a pioneering work designed for exploring effective approaches to monitor regional to global scale biospheric responses to global change, through the bridging of spatial scales and synergistic integration of in-situ and remotely sensed phenological data.The student investigator will use this project to support completion of his doctoral dissertation. The data collected and methods tested will be useful for other graduate students and interested researchers to conduct follow-up and related studies (phenological observations will be shared through an Internet portal). Broadly, a better understanding of landscape phenology and biospheric responses to global climate change is important for enhancing scientific knowledge of earth systems in support of societal adaptation and sustainable development efforts.