COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Remote Characterization of Microbial Mats in Taylor Valley, Antarctica, through In Situ Sampling and Spectral Validation

微生物席遍布麦克默多干谷，那里的夏季融雪提供了液态水，使微生物席得以繁衍生息。研究人员长期以来一直在研究微生物席生长所需的环境条件。尽管做出了这些努力，但很难对这些独特的生态系统有一个全面的了解。卫星技术的最新进展现在为研究人员提供了一个令人兴奋的新工具，利用与微生物垫相关的独特光谱特征，从太空研究这些特殊的南极生态系统。这项新技术不仅提供了从太空绘制和研究微生物垫的希望，这项研究还将有助于保护这些脆弱的环境免受从地面研究它们时可能发生的潜在有害人类影响。该项目将使用卫星图像和光谱技术来识别和绘制微生物群落，并将其特性和分布与现场和实验室测量相关联。这项研究提供了一个令人兴奋的新工具，以帮助记录和了解麦克默多干谷南极生态系统的主要组成部分的分布。该项目的目标是通过对收集到的样品进行实地和实验室分析，确定从轨道获得的光谱特征与南极洲泰勒谷微生物席群落的生理状况和生物地球化学特性之间的定量关系。该目标将通过以下方式实现：(1)改进大气校正技术，使用原位辐射校正来获得精确的表面光谱；(2)在现场采样和光谱测量的同时收集多光谱轨道图像，以确保时间可比性；(3)测量沉积物、水和微生物席样品的有机和无机碳含量、必需的生物地球化学养分和叶绿素-a，以确定相关席的特征；(4)定量地将这些实验室衍生的特征与场衍生和轨道光谱特征和参数联系起来。这项工作的结果将是在微生物群落的分布及其生物地球化学特性与景观尺度光谱特征之间建立更强大的定量联系。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Microbial mats are found throughout the McMurdo Dry Valleys where summer snowmelt provides liquid water that allows these mats to flourish. Researchers have long studied the environmental conditions microbial mats need to grow. Despite these efforts, it has been difficult to develop a broad picture of these unique ecosystems. Recent advances in satellite technology now provide researchers an exciting new tool to study these special Antarctic ecosystems from space using the unique spectral signatures associated with microbial mats. This new technology not only offers the promise that microbial mats can be mapped and studied from space, this research will also help protect these delicate environments from potentially harmful human impacts that can occur when studying them from the ground. This project will use satellite imagery and spectroscopic techniques to identify and map microbial mat communities and relate their properties and distributions to both field and lab-based measurements. This research provides an exciting new tool to help document and understand the distribution of a major component of the Antarctic ecosystem in the McMurdo Dry Valleys.The goal of this project is to establish quantitative relationships between spectral signatures derived from orbit and the physiological status and biogeochemical properties of microbial mat communities in Taylor Valley, Antarctica, as measured by field and laboratory analyses on collected samples. The goal wioll be met by (1) refining atmospheric correction techniques using in situ radiometric rectification to derive accurate surface spectra; (2) collecting multispectral orbital images concurrent with in situ sampling and spectral measurements in the field to ensure temporal comparability; (3) measuring sediment, water, and microbial mat samples for organic and inorganic carbon content, essential biogeochemical nutrients, and chlorophyll-a to determine relevant mat characteristics; and (4) quantitatively associating these laboratory-derived characteristics with field-derived and orbital spectral signatures and parameters. The result of this work will be a more robust quantitative link between the distribution of microbial mat communities and their biogeochemical properties to landscape-scale spectral signatures.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.