The BOREAS Information System

RSS-5: Boreal Forest Community Composition and Structure, Photosynthesis, Remote Sensing, Scaling and Net Carbon Flux

P.I.(s): Narendra S. Goel -- Wayne State University

Objectives: To address the following questions related to two quantities -- photosynthesis and soil radiation absorption -- for boreal forest:

1. How important is the detailed architecture and species distribution in boreal forest canopy in determining these quantities and how do they vary as a function of season when canopy architecture undergoes changes?
2. Can they be estimated using a simpler equivalent model using surrogate parameters for canopy architecture?
3. Are these parameters correlated to each other under different canopy architectural conditions, and can one estimate photosynthesis using measurement of radiation absorbed by the soil?
4. Can photosynthesis be estimated using radiation leaving a canopy? In particular, how does the relationship between FPAR (fraction of photosynthetically active radiation) and NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) depend upon the complex forest community and architecture?
5. How can this estimation be scaled up for a large collection of heterogeneous canopies such as those found in boreal forest?
6. To what degree different forest stands can be differentiated by using remotely sensed data?
7. Can the net carbon flux over the area covered by the BOREAS site be estimated by using a combination of vegetation models, scaling strategies, ground observations, and satellite images.

RSS-5 Data Sets