Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/P020291/1
Field Spectroscopy, Fluorescence and Thermal Measurements and Process Modelling for Earth Observations and Environmental Science
Training Grant Award
- Lead Supervisor:
- Dr AA Mac Arthur, University of Edinburgh, Sch of Geosciences
- Grant held at:
- University of Edinburgh, Sch of Geosciences
- Science Area:
- Earth
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Earth
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Global Change
- Natural Resource Management
- Science Topics:
- Biophysics
- Fluorescence Spectroscopy
- Environmental Informatics
- Remote sensing
- Remote Sensing & Earth Obs.
- Survey & Monitoring
- Hyperspectral remote sensing
- Optical remote sensing
- Primary productivity
- Vegetation monitoring
- Satellite observation
- Remote sensing
- Technol. for Environ. Appl.
- Abstract:
- This ATSC will build on the NERC ATSC (NE/N000757/1) "Field Spectroscopy, Airborne Optical Imaging and Process Modelling for Environmental Science" developed by the applicants and held in 2015. It was stated in that application that the course would be expanded in future to include other forms of Earth observation. The course proposed here will make use of the on-line course content generated previously, hosted by NCEO at < https://www.nceo.ac.uk/training/atsc-training/ >. Students will have to review this prior to being accepted for the 2017 course. The on-line course will be modified to facilitate verification of this. This approach will maximise time spent in the field training students in field spectroscopic and thermal measurement techniques. This ATSC will introduce the measurement of vegetation fluorescence and thermal observations, in addition to the hyperspectral reflectance measurements introduced in the previous course. Fluorescence is a bi-product of photosynthesis. It is the photon flux emitted by chlorophyll molecules after excitation by sunlight and the most directly measurable reporter of photosynthetic efficiency. Hence, it is a key indicator of the carbon fixation and stress limited state of photosynthesising organisms. However, reflectance and temperature measurements are also required to understand the fluorescence signal. This combination of measurements (fluorescence, reflectance and temperature) will greatly advance our understanding of the dynamics of photosynthesis, gross primary productivity, and ecosystem change over time. Retrieving information from these measurements requires a deeper understanding of the interaction of sunlight with Earth's surface biophysical and biochemical constituents and of field optical and thermal measurement techniques than is required when applying the more common approach of using broadband spectral indices. The European Space Agency (ESA) is supporting an explorer mission (FLEX) to measure Earth surface fluorescence from space and exploit that unique vantage point to study the dynamics of natural processes and the impact human activity and climate change at local, regional and global scales. FLEX will be launched in 2022 and fly in tandem with Sentinel 3. Sentinel-3 will make spectral and thermal measurements, for surface reflectance and land surface temperature, near simultaneously and at the same spatial sampling scale as FLEX. There is now an imperative to train the next generation of scientists to use these forms of Earth observation, to understand the physics of photosynthesis, how these measurements are made, uncertainties quantified and data analysed. The aim of this Short Course is to provide NERC PhD students and ESRs with a unique opportunity to gain both theoretical and practical 'hands-on' experience in hyperspectral, fluorescence and thermal field measurements, validation techniques for airborne and space-based observations, and data processing and analysis. This course will be based at an established field research site where weather conditions will be suitable for passive optical measurements relying on stable solar illumination. Some of the individual course elements have been delivered previously (e.g. the NERC Field Spectroscopy Facility (FSF) Introduction to Field Spectroscopy). However, these individual courses have been primarily theoretical and neither integrated nor combined with field and airborne data acquisition to provide comprehensive, practical and realistic training. This course will address these shortcomings. It will also provide further on-line training materials to support NERC science and make use of NERC funded and other state-of-the-art instrumentation and software tools.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/P020291/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Doctoral Training
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Advanced Training
This training grant award has a total value of £56,893
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Other Costs |
|---|
| £56,893 |
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