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Identifying forest patterns across the circumpolar taiga-tundra ecotone:

linking multi-scale estimates of structure to explore biome boundary dynamics

Paul Montesano, NASA/SSAI, paul.m.montesano@nasa.gov (Presenter)
Christopher Neigh, NASA GSFC, christopher.s.neigh@nasa.gov
Min Feng, GLCF, fengm@umd.edu
Joseph O. Sextion, GLCF, jsexton@umd.edu
Saurabh Channan, GLCF, schannan@umd.edu
William C Wagner, NASA GSFC - SSAI, william.c.wagner@nasa.gov
Margaret Wooten, NASA GSFC - SSAI, margaret.wooten@nasa.gov
Benjamin Poulter, NASA GSFC, benjamin.poulter@nasa.gov

In the northernmost portion of the circumpolar boreal, the taiga-tundra ecotone (TTE), the variety of forest patterns are the result of interactions between broad-scale climate and local-scale site factors. Patterns of forest extent, height, and cover help describe forest structure spatial transitions that influence future and reflect past dynamics. Ground and airborne observations of structure provide important calibration for tuning spaceborne estimates of forest height and cover. These spaceborne estimates reveal patterns at a range of scales, including patches with similar forest structure properties and the spatial rates of change of these properties. They provide both site-level samples of height and continuous cover estimates that span the circumpolar domain. Continuous domain-wide structure estimates are important for consistent modelling of circumpolar biome boundary dynamics. We highlight (1) our integration of ground and airborne observations to calibrate forest structure estimates; (2) use of sub-meter spaceborne stereogrammetry for sampling structure along the taiga-tundra ecotone; (3) Landsat-derived patterns of tree cover and its spatial rate of change across the circumpolar ecotone; and (4) how we’re linking remote sensing structure estimates to the modelling of circumpolar dynamics such as the variability in boreal forest age structure & carbon fluxes, and the snow-albedo feedback to climate.

Associated Project(s): 

Poster Location ID: 30

Session Assigned: Vegetation Dynamics and Distribution

 


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