Detecting ecosystem changes by merging multiple satellite remote sensing platforms across the Arctic-boreal zone

Abstract:

The Arctic-boreal zone is warming faster than any other region on Earth, at a rate nearly twice the global average, and this warming is expected to have consequences for human communities, vegetation, hydrology, and permafrost, ultimately feeding back to the global climate system. Despite the potential consequences associated with these threats, there is currently a limited holistic understanding of terrestrial ecosystem changes across the Arctic-boreal zone over time, limiting our ability to quantify and project the associated risks. Here we propose a monitoring system that will detect ecosystem changes in the Arctic-boreal zone using a suite of Visible, Near-Infrared, Thermal Infrared (VIS-NIR-TIR) and Microwave remote sensing time series that provide ecological indicators for landscape freeze/thaw status, ecosystem water stress and vegetation state. Specifically, we examine trends in the timing of the annual start and end of the growing season, the surface freeze/thaw/transitional status, surface soil moisture, temperature, precipitation, and changes in vegetation properties. We then combine these separate indicators to highlight and understand “hotspots” of ecosystem change. Lastly, we implement this framework within a new Arctic Carbon Monitoring and Prediction System (ArctiC MaPS) data visualization application, which will allow users to evaluate trends over self-defined time frames of interest, apply their own areas of interest, and summarize results in real time. The ArctiC MaPS application provides an essential tool for observing landscape changes across the Arctic-boreal zone, and this remote sensing approach is critical to detect and respond to the impacts of a rapidly changing climate.