Plans for the U.S. National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON): The Contribution of Remote Sensing Susan L. Ustin Center for Spatial Technologies and Remote Sensing University of California Davis S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research NEON Goal: Transform Ecological Sciences • From site-based focus to Continental/Global Science • 30 year plan to monitor environments to address “8 Grand Research Challenges” • NSF Major Research Equipment Facilities Center (MREFC; Infrastructure Program); expected start 2007 S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research 1 Fundamental NEON Science Challenges • How will ecosystems and their components respond to changes in natural- and human-induced forcings such as climate, land use, and invasive . species? -- Across a range of spatial and temporal scales? -- What is the pace and pattern of the responses? • How do internal responses and feedbacks to biogeochemistry, biodiversity, hydroecology and biotic structure and function interact with changes in climate, land use, and invasive species? -- How do feedbacks vary with ecological context and spatial and temporal scales? S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research Site Selection: Evaluation of Environmental Variables Climate and Soils 25 clusters Bill Hargrove, Oak Ridge National Lab, DOE S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research 2 Continental Gradients: Climate Example Temperature Gradients Precipitation Gradients cold wet dry hot Precipitation amount from dry to wet; constant mean annual temperature Mean annual temperature cold to hot; constant precipitation amount/yr S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research 1 National Network: 20 NEON Domains: Nested Network of Sites Northeast 2 Mid Atlantic 3 Southeast 12 4 Atlantic Neotropical 5 Great Lakes 6 Prairie Peninsula 7 Ozarks Complex 9 Northern Plains 10 Central Plains 11 Southern Plains 12 Northern Rockies 13 Southern Rockies / Colorado Plateau 14 Desert Southwest 15 Great Basin 16 Pacific Northwest 17 Pacific Southwest 18 19 20 55 9 15 Appalachians / Cumberland Plateau 8 1 16 6 7 10 17 2 13 19 16 14 8 18 11 33 4 20 10 additional sites for national gradient Tundra Taiga Pacific 3 Concept of Fundamental Instrument Unit within a NEON Domain S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research Nationally Distributed Observatory Network Deployed across wildlands and urban gradients S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research 4 Environmental Monitoring From Airborne Data Systems Albedo, Energy Exchange Species Composition, Community Structure Spread of invasive species Leaf nitrogen concentration, Nutrient composition S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research Photosynthetic capacity and plant health NEON Airborne Observatory Partnerships for Satellite Data Access • Landsat (now operational), NPOESS, etc. • possible hyperspectral and/or Lidar satellite imagers NEON Airborne Plan: Flexible Responses • 2 Continental “Large” packages (reconfigurable components) Hyperspectral Imager and Full Waveform Lidar – – – – Annual/biannual mapping Supports continental scaling Satellite calibration Deployable to extreme events like hurricanes, wildfires, pest outbreaks Prototype Continental Package • 5 Regional “Smaller” packages – supports gradients & multi-domain efforts – providesS.dedicated multitemporal data Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research 5 Airborne Observation Platform Airborne Hyperspectral Data •Coupling Observations from Site Studies to Satellites •Monitoring Climate Change Impacts High Fidelity Imaging Spectrometers with 100s of Narrow Spectral Bands UV to Thermal Wavebands S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research Standard NEON Products: High-Fidelity Imaging Spectroscopy • Vegetation indexes • Leaf Area Index • Canopy moisture • Canopy chemistry (terrestrial and aquatic) • Canopy pigments (terrestrial and aquatic) • Spectral unmixing of landscape components • % cover, NPV, etc. • Ecological/ Biological diversity maps • S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research 6 Airborne Observation Platform Full Wave-form LiDAR • Vegetation height & distribution of structural elements • Canopy top topography • Biomass • Life form diversity Tree crowns •Ground Topography & Bathymetry Understory Ground S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research Imaging LiDAR Differential Absorption LiDAR (multiple wavelengths) Imaging Full Waveform S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research 7 Imaging LiDAR: Improved land cover mapping Tidal Salt Marsh Elevation Biomass, C- budget, Fire risk, Biodiversity 100 m % Time Flooded Sea level rise, Bathymetry, Hydrology, Transport 1.2 kg/m3 Biomass LiDAR + hyperspectral imagery Species Mapping S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research ■ Salicornia virginica ■ Spartina foliosa ■ Distichilis spicata ■ Water Regional Packages: Real-Time Environmental Monitoring and Disaster Response PROCESSING Forestry C-sequestration Disasters Environmental Assessment & Monitoring: Land use, Vegetation mapping, C /ET Fluxes, Air/water Pollution, Invasive species, Primary production, Soil Erosion, etc. Ecosystems, Agriculture, Urban Data Analysis Facility Scientists Education Policy Makers Wildfires, Floods, Levee failures, Earthquakes, Mudflows, Air Quality, Pollution, Disease transport S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research 8 NEON Prototype: CAO Aircraft Instrument System S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research Imaging Spectrometer: 400-1050 nm 2.3 nm FWHM 1500 pixel cross-track < 2.0 m GIFOV LIDAR: 100 khtz Full waveform digitization < 0.5 m spot spacing Integration: Real-time ortho-georectification In-flight atmospheric correction S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research 9 Canopy Carotenoid Expression CAO Spectrometer: 1/3 of swath, 1.0 m spatial resolution High Low CAO Test Flight – Nov 12, 2006 Laupahoehoe Rainforest Reserve, Hawai’i Low High Carotene/Chlorophyll Ratio Top-of-canopy carotenoid expression Æ Light-use efficiency Analysis crown-by-crown vs. shaded sides of crowns) S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting (sunlit Edge Research 10 CAO Rapid Data Products CAO Analysis Products •Calibrated reflectance spectra • Canopy pigments • Canopy water • Dead/senescent vegetation • Canopy height and architecture • Surface topography reflectance pigments Canopy • Aboveground carbon storage • Net primary production • Evapotranspiration • Species dominance • Species richness • Invasive species dead/senescent S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research water canopy height & architecture 3-D Forest & Topographic Imaging –Rainforest & Pasture Laupahoehoe Forest Reserve, Hawaii 1.0 m spatial resolution, 100,000 htz S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research 11 CAO LiDAR waveforms for profiling forest canopy and detecting forest floor Subset image of waveform height (m) Sample waveforms S. Ustin,tree ISPMSRS Cutting Edge Research Single crown’07(30-60 waveforms) Ground Measurements & Validation Data NEON Design: Hierarchical Sampling Plans are not finalized, Options for Site Studies: • endmember (spectral library) measurements • continuous or periodic sampling from towers or cables (e.g., SpecNet) • local airborne sampling S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research 12 Site Measurements: Small Payload UAVs S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research Ground Track CSTARS Unpiloted Airborne Vehicle S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research 13 ~8 kg Payload, electric motor, pointing & GPS S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research UC Davis Arboretum S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07Sensors: Cutting Edge Research Computer IRGA C-NIR Imagers 14 Miniaturized Imaging Spectrometers Silicon 128, 256, 512 elements InGaAs 256 elements Extended InGaAs 256 elements Imaging Spectrometers 350-2500 nm range Dimensions with standard detector Length 55 mm Width 24 mm Height 48 mm Weight ~1 lb. S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research Thank You! UC Davis Arboretum S. Ustin, ISPMSRS ’07 Cutting Edge Research 15