MSU Geography Colloquium Series: Assessing Forest Carbon Dynamics Using Spectral and Structural Remote Sensing Observations - Zach Butterfield
Fri, February 27, 2026 3:00 PM - Fri, February 27, 2026 4:00 PM at Geography Building, Rm 126
Join us for our next MSU Geography Colloquium session when we welcome Dr. Zach Butterfield for a presentation titled "Assessing Forest Carbon Dynamics Using Spectral and Structural Remote Sensing Observations."
Abstract:
Forest ecosystems play a vital role in the Earth system, and understanding forest carbon dynamics is essential for characterizing the global carbon cycle and climate system. Remote sensing enables ecosystem monitoring across broad spatial and temporal scales, but its effective application requires a robust understanding of how remotely sensed signals relate to carbon fluxes under a variety of physical and environmental conditions.
In this presentation, I will present results from a high precision tower-based spectrometer system deployed above a deciduous broadleaf forest at the University of Michigan Biological Station in the northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. My results demonstrate that solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) is correlated with gross primary productivity (GPP) across diurnal and seasonal cycles (R2 = 0.61 and 0.64 for 90-min- and daily-averaged data, respectively), and that the SIF signal responds to drought-induced losses in ecosystem productivity. I will also explore directional dependencies within the SIF signal that can obfuscate diurnal patterns and complicate the interpretation of satellite-based observations. Lastly, I will present preliminary results showing how LiDAR-derived representations of canopy structure can be used to assess sunlight-canopy interactions and potentially explain unexpected features within the tower-based SIF observations.
