Training on remote sensing for ecosystem modelling

Funder: EU Marie Curie International Training Network

Working with: eleven partner institutions across the European Union

Researcher / PhD: Dominic Fawcett

Summary: TRuStEE will train a new generation of scientists with complementary and interdisciplinary skills in ecosystem modelling, plant physiology, remote sensing technologies and big data analysis, addressing different specific objectives:

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1. to identify essential biodiversity variables (EBVs) and the link with plant traits (PTs) and ecosystem functional properties (EFPs), inferable from remote sensing)

2. to investigate a completely new avenue for assessing vegetation photosynthetic efficiency from remote sensing measurements of canopy fluorescence

3. to assimilate diverse remote sensing data streams with varying spatial and temporal resolution in dynamic ecosystem models

4. to exploit new satellite missions (e.g. ESA-FLEX, ESA-Sentinels, NASA-GEDI) and Earth Observation products for the upscaling at global scale of PTs, EBVs and EFPs.

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My role in this project is to lead a single research project to develop new improved ways of describing plant functional traits using proximal sensing techniques from drones. With my PhD researcher Dominic, we are developing a micro-computer-based sensor that will deliver new understanding of measurement uncertainty from drone platforms. Additionally, we are collaborating with other partners in the network to deliver training programmes. In November 2017, the DroneLab hosted a one-week training workshop for all participants to get hands-on skills in drone methodologies for vegetation monitoring.

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More details can be found on the Trustee website: http://www.trusteenetwork.eu/