Diane E. Wickland

The Boreal Ecosystem–Atmosphere Study (BOREAS): An Overview and Early Results from the 1994 Field Year

Abstract The Boreal Ecosystem Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) is large-scale international field experiment that has the goal of improving our understanding of the exchanges of radiative energy, heat water, CO2, and trace gases between the boreal forest and the lower atmosphere. An important objective of BORES is collect the data needed to improve computer simulation models of the processes controlling these exchanges so that scientists can anticipate the effects of global change. From August 1993 through September 1994, a continuous set of monitoring measurements—meteorology, hydrology, and satellite remote sensing—were gathered over the 1000 × 1000 km BOREAS study region that covers most of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada. This monitoring program was punctuated by six campaigns that saw the deployment of some 300 scientists and aircrew into the field, supported by 11 research aircraft. The participants were drawn primarily from U.S. and Canadian agencies and universities, although there were also important ...

BOREAS in 1997: Experiment overview, scientific results, and future directions

The goal of the Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) is to improve our understanding of the interactions between the boreal forest biome and the atmosphere in order to clarify their roles in global change. This overview paper describes the science background and motivations for BOREAS and the experimental design and operations of the BOREAS 1994 and BOREAS 1996 field years. The findings of the 83 papers in this journal special issue are reviewed. In section 7, important scientific results of the project to date are summarized and future research directions are identified.

Initiative to quantify terrestrial carbon sources and sinks

Questions related to the distribution and spatio-temporal dynamics of the terrestrial carbon fluxes are at the core of current scientific and policy debates. In recent years, the primary concern has been the increasing CO2 content in the atmosphere, its effect on climate, and the associated role of terrestrial ecosystems in mitigating the increase and impact of climate change. However, terrestrial carbon dynamics is also closely related to biodiversity land degradation, and other pressing policy and assessment questions. Yet at the global level, no system in place now can provide quantitative information about carbon sources and sinks systematically, reliably, and accurately.

Coordinating Earth Observing System land validation

NASAs Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land product validation project, initiated prior to the launch of the NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) Terra platform in late 1999, provides data, instrument, and information resources for the validation of products that quantify land surface characteristics from MODIS and other satellite sensors. Land products derived from MODIS and other moderate-resolution sensors include, among others, land cover, snow cover extent, surface temperature, leaf area index, fire occurrence, and vegetation productivity. The land validation project infrastructure, developed at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), involves an integration of NASA-funded researchers, international collaborators, and science data networks. These resources facilitate determination of product uncertainty, which is the definition of validation, through best practice methods. Key to the project is the set of EOS Land Validation Core Sites, a global network of 33 sites (including six added in 2006), which serve as a focus for validation activities. The initial infrastructure and activities were described in Morisette et al. [1999], Justice et al. [2000], and Morisette et al. [2002].

Emerging Issues in Land Remote Sensing

This chapter summarizes the key questions and issues discussed by three review panels in the 9th International Symposium on Physical Measurements and Signatures in Remote Sensing (ISPMSRS) held in October 2005 in Beijing. The panels focused on remote sensing systems and sensors, modeling and inversion, and remote sensing applications. Some emerging issues in land remote sensing are presented, including sensor networks, modeling complex landscapes, machine learning techniques for inversion, and spatial scaling. Shunlin Liang and John Townshend Department of Geography, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA Michael Schaepman Centre for Geo-Information, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands Thomas Jackson USDA ARS Hydrology and Remote Sensing Lab, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA David Jupp CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Canberra ACT 2601 Australia Xiaowen Li Center for Remote Sensing and GIS of Beijing Normal University and Institute for Remote Sensing Applications, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China Jiyuan Liu and Ronggao Liu Institute for Geographical Sciences and Natural Resource Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China Alan Strahler Department of Geography and Environment and Center for Remote Sensing, Boston University, Boston, USA Diane Wickland NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, USA S. Liang (ed.), Advances in Land Remote Sensing, 485–494. 485 c

Diane Wickland receives 2007 Edward A. Flinn III award

Several 2007 AGU Awards were presented at the Joint Assembly in Acapulco, Mexico. Winners were introduced by President Tim Killeen in a formal ceremony held on 25 May 2007. An honors fiesta followed the ceremony. It is with great pleasure that we recognize and honor the accomplishments of Diane E. Wickland, the 2007 winner of the Edward A. Flinn III Award from the American Geophysical Union, for her pivotal contributions to the development of the emerging field of biogeosciences.