NASA Earth Observatory: New Studies Examine Climate/Vegetation Links

Two new spaceborne Earth-observing instruments will help scientists better understand how global forests and ecosystems are affected by changes in climate and land use change. 

This image of the Amazon rainforest is from a 2010 global map of the height of the world's forests based on multiple satellite datasets. 

Image courtesy NASA Earth Observatory.

NASA has selected proposals for two new instruments, including one from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, that will observe changes in global vegetation from the International Space Station.

UMD will develop the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation Lidar (GEDI) for up to $94 million while JPL will build the ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment (ECOSTRESS) on Space Station for as much as $30 million, NASA said Wednesday.

The sensors will give scientists new ways to see how forests and ecosystems are affected by changes in climate or in land use.

A high-resolution, multiple-wavelength imaging spectrometer from JPL will study the effectiveness of water use by vegetation.

This instrument will be completed in 2018 and will not cost more than $30 million. A laser-based system from the University of Maryland, College Park, will observe the structure of forest canopy. This instrument will be completed in 2019 and will not cost more than $94 million.

John Grunsfeld

"We are excited to expand the use of the International Space Station to make critical Earth observations that will help scientists understand the diversity of forests and vegetation and their response to a changing climate," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

"These innovative Earth Venture Instruments will join a growing suite of NASA Earth-observing sensors to be deployed to the station starting this year."

The instruments were competitively selected from 20 proposals submitted to NASA's Earth Venture Instrument program.

Part of the Earth System Science Pathfinder program (ESSP), Earth Venture investigations are small, targeted science investigations that complement NASA's larger research missions.

The National Research Council recommended in 2007 that NASA undertake this type of regularly solicited, quick-turnaround project. The program's first selection was awarded in 2010.

Simon Hook of JPL is the principal investigator for the ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS).

This project will use a high-resolution thermal infrared radiometer to measure plant evapotranspiration, the loss of water from growing leaves and evaporation from the soil.

These data will reveal how ecosystems change with climate and provide a critical link between the water cycle and effectiveness of plant growth, both natural and agricultural.

The ECOSTRESS team has extensive experience in development and analysis of thermal infrared spectroscopic images of Earth's surface.

ESA: Amazon Rainforest Jurua river - images

This image from the Envisat satellite shows the Juruá River snaking through the Amazon rainforest in western Brazil. 

Along the river’s main course are free-standing ‘oxbow lakes’, formed when a river changes course.

This image is a compilation of three images from Envisat’s radar, acquired on 2 January, 1 February and 3 March 2012. 

The individual images are each assigned a colour – red, green and blue – and when combined, reveal changes in the surface between Envisat’s passes.

Credits: ESA

This image from the Envisat satellite shows the Jurua River snaking through the Amazon rainforest in western Brazil. The Jurua is one of the longest tributaries of the Amazon River, flowing slowly through the half-flooded forest country it traverses in the Amazon Basin.

Along the river's main course are free-standing 'oxbow lakes', formed when a river changes course.
Tropical rainforests have some of the largest rivers in the world because of the tremendous amount of precipitation their watersheds receive.

Given its size, remote sensing is the best way to study the Amazon Basin on a large scale - especially for assessing the extent and damage due to deforestation.

This image is a compilation of three images from Envisat's radar, acquired on 2 January, 1 February and 3 March 2012. The individual images are each assigned a colour - red, green and blue - and when combined, reveal changes in the surface between Envisat's passes.

Satellite radar data can be exploited to map forest height, 3D forest structure and their natural or anthropogenic disturbance with high spatial resolution and accuracy.

Since forests assist in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, this could prove to be an important tool for assessing carbon stocks and monitoring our planet's resources.

Envisat has recently been experiencing technical difficulties. Following ten years of service, the satellite stopped sending data to Earth on 8 April. ESA's mission control is working to re-establish contact with the satellite.

Images on ESA Portal

Brazilian Farmers cynically bulldoze UNESCO tribal reserve

A group of Brazilian ranchers is bulldozing a UNESCO reserve inhabited by an indigenous Indian tribe with no prior contact with the outside world, an native rights group said Monday.

Survival International said the UNESCO bioreserve in Paraguay's Chaco region is home to the only uncontacted indigenous tribe in South America outside of the Amazon -- the Ayoreo-Totobiegosode.

"The Totobiegosode's land is being destroyed as we speak," said Stephen Corry, director of Survival International.

"Given that their land falls within a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, we hope that UNESCO can play a part in stopping this destruction and pressing for the recognition of their land rights."

The group says a Paraguayan government representative and two relatives of the tribe attempted to enter the region, but were barred by employees of the ranchers' company, Yaguarete Pore S.A.

Survival International said the reserve was intended to protect both the Indian group but also species including the jaguar, "an irony given that a Spanish language translation of that word, yaguarete, is the name of the company bulldozing the reserve."

Satellite photos show that thousands of hectares of the reserve have been destroyed, even though the company has had its license to operate there withdrawn by the Paraguayan government, Survival International said.

UNESCO biospheres are designated under the United Nation's agency's "Man and Biosphere Program," and are intended to promote conservation and sustainable development.

There are over 500 designated sites in over 100 countries, according to UNESCO. The Chaco region in Paraguay was designated in 2005.