Evaluation drought response of tropical dry forests using advanced wireless sensor networks

Abstract:

Understanding of the effects of persistent drought in tropical dry forests has not been fully studied until today. In this presentation we will discuss one of the first results on the response of tropical dry forests to drought using advanced wireless sensor networks and canopy phenology towers, that provide hyper-temporal information on micro-meteorological variables such Temperature, relative humidity, and Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD). In addition, we will evaluate drought response to as function of the Fraction of the Photosynthetic Active Radiation (FPAR), and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Our work is conducted at the Santa Rosa Environmental Monitoring Super Site (NR-EMSS) located at the Guancaste Province, Costa Rica, Central America.

Our results indicate significant changes in terms of FPAR, VPD manifested via strong changes on NDVI. Our results pose questions about the resilience of these understudied tropical ecosystems and their long-term survival under severe and persistent drought conditions. This results provide a reference framework for the need of more integrated research on the Central American Dry Forest corridor where just between Costa Rica and Nicaragua over 100,000 families are facing strong drought conditions.