Remote sensing of vegetation and landscape dynamics for wildlife ecological applications

我们对自然生态系统功能的理解目前受到我们在大范围内频繁观察复杂环境动态的能力的限制。长期以来，遥感一直被认为是支持野生动物栖息地分析和其他生态应用的关键技术，但其在多学科项目中的应用尚未得到充分发展。这项工作旨在在应用驱动的研究和技术驱动的方法开发之间取得平衡，旨在改善遥感科学在生态背景下的使用。需要解决的具体挑战包括：(i)利用每天观测地球的卫星图像时间序列，开发表征植被物候的新方法——反复出现的生物物理事件，如春天变绿或发芽；（ii）建立更好的方法来探测和测量景观干扰，如森林采伐、昆虫破坏和野火。我们的研究结果将有助于围绕濒危野生动物和生物多样性的当代管理和保护举措，并旨在帮助任何在生态背景下处理遥感技术的人。

Our understanding of natural ecosystem functioning is currently limited by our capacity to observe complex environmental dynamics frequently and over large areas. Remote sensing has long been identified as a key technology for supporting wildlife habitat analysis and other ecological applications, but its use in multi-disciplinary projects is not yet fully-developed. This work is designed to strike a balance between applications-driven research and technology-driven methods development intended to improve the use of remote sensing science in an ecological context. Specific challenges to be addressed include (i) developing new methods for characterizing vegetation phenology - recurring biophysical events such as spring greenup or budburst - using time series of satellite imagery that observe the earth on a daily basis, and (ii) establishing better methods for detecting and measuring landscape disturbance such as forest harvesting, insect damage, and wildfire. The results of our research will contributes to contemporary management and conservation initiatives surrounding endangered wildlife and biodiversity, and are intended to assist anyone dealing with remote sensing technology in an ecological context.