Changes in Carbon Flux at the Duke Forest Hardwood Ameriflux Site Due to Land Cover/Land Use Changes

Abstract:

The Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina metropolitan area has been ranked by Forbes as the fastest growing cities in the United States. As a result of the rapid growth, there has been a significant amount of urban sprawl. The objective of this study was to determine if the changes in land use and land cover have caused a change in the carbon flux near the Duke Forest AmeriFlux station that was active from 2001 to 2008. The land cover and land use were assessed every two years to determine how land cover has changed at the Duke Forest Hardwoods (US-Dk2) AmeriFlux site from 2001 to 2008 using Landsat scenes. The change in land cover and land use was then compared to changes in the carbon footprint that is computed annually from 2001 to 2008. The footprint model for each wind direction determined that there are changes annually and that the research will determine if these changes are due to annual weather patterns or land use and land cover changes.