Thesis subject

MSc thesis topic: Forest Growth quantified with micrometeorological and remote sensing methods

Loobos is an experimental forest site in the Netherlands where both GRS and MAQ quantify forest growth with their own methods. GRS uses Lidar techniques and MAQ uses Eddy covariance. Lidar is particularly spatially explicit, whereas eddy covariance is much more explicit in time. From eddy covariance, we know the forest sequesters about 500 g C / m2 / yr, but it doesn’t tell where. Lidar could help answering this question.

What if we bring those techniques together? Can we learn where the forest stores the carbon? Is the growth normally distributed or are only some trees responsible for the majority of the uptake?

Background

To use Lidar measurements to quantify carbon uptake, we need to apply allometric relationships. These are known and have already been applied to selected locations, where forest inventories have been performed. You will test the application of the relationships on airborne Lidar based measurements, compare them with the inventories. This will give a spatial estimate of carbon storage in the forest.

Since the Lidar measurements have been collected re-peatedly over the past decades, changes in carbon storage (fluxes) can be calculated too and compared with the eddy covariance flux estimates. This may help quantify when and where the forest has been storing carbon.

The development of this comparison entails much scientific analysis, testing and consideration of advantages and disadvantages of both approaches. When carried out succesfully, it could mean a scientific breakthrough in understanding forest carbon storage.

Relevance to research/projects at GRS or other groups

This is a combined GRS and MAQ thesis.

Objectives

  • Compare Lidar and eddy covariance measurements to estimate forest carbon uptake.
  • How well do the techniques compare?
  • How is forest growth distributed over space and time?

Requirements

  • Scripting skills (e.g. R, Python) are a preference
  • Basic knowledge of forestry
  • Completion GRS32306 Advanced Earth Observation

Theme(s): Sensing & measuring; Integrated Land Monitoring