North American Forest Dynamics Evaluated Using Landsat Observations and FIA Measurements: Science Goals within NACP

One of the major goals of the North American Carbon Program is to understand the sources and sinks of atmospheric carbon. The first State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR) with a focus on North America identified forest as one of the largest sinks on this continent. This report attributed much of this carbon uptake to forest regeneration on abandoned agricultural lands based on carbon accounting procedures. Forest disturbance was not fully addressed. While forest disturbance and regrowth are recognized as significant forces modulating North American carbon balance, examining the carbon fluxes arising from these processes is hindered by a lack of understanding of continental-scale forest dynamics. The North American Forest Dynamics (NAFD) project has been developed to address this fundamental question using historical Landsat observations in combination with comprehensive field measurements collected through the USDA Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program. This presentation will provide an overview of the science objectives of the NAFD project and the approaches for achieving these goals.