Mapping Spatio-Temporal Phenological changes in vegetation across NEON’s Great Lakes Domain, USA.

Keywords: Vegetation, Phenology, Remote sensing, NEON, Great Lake, NDVI, MODIS.
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

Phenology studies changes in the timing of phenological events. Vegetation phenology is sensitive to changes in temperature. Hence, the start and end of growing season is important for determining ecosystem productivity and carbon uptake duration. Determining start and end of season through in-situ observations involves monitoring bud burst and leaf fall. For remote sensing, such observations involve monitoring vegetation index. This study focuses on observation of bud burst and leaf fall of dominant plant species like red maple (Acer rebrum), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) across National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) domain 5. We will combine in-situ and satellite data to explore the spatio-temporal variation in spring and autumn phenology in the domain. We will extract in-situ data from the National Phenological Network (USANPN) and NEON terrestrial sites including University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Centre (UNDE), Steigerwaldt-Chequamegon (STEI) and Treehaven (TREE). Additionally, we also extracted Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro Radiometer (MODIS) which is a reliable spectral index for phenological change detection. We also seek to compare in-situ data with satellite data. We expect to observe variation in timing of phenophase changes among different species. This study will demonstrate the potential of remote sensing in observing the timing of phenophase in Great Lakes. Additionally, it will add to informed knowledge in model development for start and end of growing season.