B21D-0486
Spatial Variability of Canopy Structure and Function in Tussock Tundra of Alaska
Tuesday, 15 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Jane Lee1,2, Youngryel Ryu3, Jong min Kim2 and Yoo Kyung Lee4, (1)Korea Polar Research Institute, Arctic Research Center, Incheon, South Korea, (2)Seoul National University, Interdisciplinary Program in Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Seoul, South Korea, (3)Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea, (4)Korea Polar Research Insitute, Incheon, South Korea
Abstract:
Understanding the type of canopy structure and function is important to link the effects of climate change on carbon, water, and energy exchanges between vegetation in tussock tundra and the atmosphere. Interpreting vegetation spatial variability with satellite products alone is a challenge, due to the patchiness of vegetation in the Arctic ecosystems with transient cloud over during the summer season that obstructs retrieval of land surface images. To compare and correlate spatial variation of vegetation with satellite data, we collected leaf area index (LAI) and hyperspectral reflectance data in Council, Alaska. To better understand canopy structure and functional variables, we further examined arctic leaf traits by measuring C:N ratio, leaf mass area (LMA), chlorophyll content, and hyperspectral leaf optical properties. We obtained WorldView-2 Satellite data, which has 8 multispectral bands with 0.5 m resolution, centered on our study site. Preliminary results showed remarkable variation in spectral reflectance and LAI across three 100-m transects. We discuss how to upscale the information from in-situ observed canopy properties into a landscape scale in tandem with the high-resolution satellite image.
