Analysis of the Controlling Factors of Forest Productivity in Northeastern U.S for Improved Application of Remote Sensing

Biomass production in forests is a key process in the global carbon cycle. Spatially, patterns of forest growth vary as a function of climate, soils and species composition (e.g. Smith et al. 2002), however our understanding is far from complete and can be complicated by trends that are poorly understood. Given these uncertainties, studies designed to simultaneously examine factors controlling spatial patterns in productivity will help lead to a greater understanding of the carbon cycle across broad terrestrial ecosystems. An investigation of the main factors controlling productivity in different forests types will also provide data for extrapolation using remote sensing and ecosystem models. The proposed research is designed to address these knowledge gaps by measuring wood growth, photosynthetic rates, and foliar chemistry (C13 and N15) of two well-studied northeastern U.S. research sites. Results will be used to improve spatial estimates of forest growth using high spectral resolution remote sensing and a widely used ecosystem model.