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Project

Solar Induced chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF) as a tool to monitor the anthropogenic impact on the carbon cycle over terrestrial ecosystems.

Over the last decades, anthropogenic activity has impacted terrestrial ecosystems. Of the total habitable land, around 50% is used for agricultural practices and 37% by forests. Humans have been directly and indirectly influencing terrestrial ecosystems by converting or degrading the land. Forests have been degraded due to logging activities, anthropogenic emissions impact ecosystems through nitrogen deposition, or ecosystems are converted for agricultural practices. All these processes affect the functioning of the carbon cycle. Up to today, it remains unclear to which degree and where these anthropogenic influences impact the functioning of the carbon cycle. Solar Induced chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF) is the emission by plants of excess energy not used for photosynthesis and stands in direct relationship with Gross Primary Production (GPP) of ecosystems. SIF measurements are provided globally through remote sensing from spaceborne platforms. In this PhD, the effect of anthropogenic influences on the carbon cycle of terrestrial ecosystems will be analyzed at 7 km x 3.5 km resolution through SIF measurements provided by the TROPOMI instrument on board Sentinel-5P. The relationship between SIF and GPP will be analyzed spatially along disturbance gradients for three different disturbance types: (i) forest degradation, (ii) nitrogen deposition over nutrient-poor ecosystems, and (iii) drainage of peatlands for agricultural practices. The anthropogenic influences will be quantified by two different modeling approaches: machine learning and process-based modeling of SIF. The findings of this PhD will contribute to our understanding how humans alter the land carbon cycle and indicate possible applications of future remote sensing missions such as FLEX, which will become available to measure SIF at high spatial resolution in the coming years.

Date:2 Sep 2021 →  20 Dec 2023
Keywords:SIF, Peatlands, Nitrogen deposition, Anthropogenic activity, Forest degradation, TROPOMI, GPP
Disciplines:Remote sensing, Environmental monitoring, Hydrogeology
Project type:PhD project