Detection of tree mortality using high resolution optical imagery for assessment of spatial and temporal patterns of forest dynamics and carbon in Amazon forest

• Grant number: 17/15257-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: March 01, 2018
• End date: February 28, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Eduardo Oliveira e Cruz de Aragão
• Grantee: Ricardo Dal'Agnol da Silva
• Supervisor: Oliver L. B. Phillips
• Host Institution: Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE). São José dos Campos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Leeds, England
• Associated to the scholarship: 15/22987-7 - Assessment of climate change impacts on the biomass and carbon dynamics in the Amazon, BP.DR

Abstract

The role of the Amazon forest as a carbon sink has been extensively studied. However, recent results show that this sink is declining possibly due to climate variability, driving an increase in tree mortality, with feedbacks between growth and death of trees. Even though forest inventory plots have been the main source of information to monitor and assess impacts of global changes on ecosystems, there are uncertainties on the stability of extrapolations from local to regional scales. One way to improve the accuracy of these estimates is to use remote sensing data to extent the measurement area and analyze forest dynamics at several spatial scales. The main goal of my project is to assess up-scaling techniques of local-scale dynamics and biomass loss estimates from inventory plots to multiple-scales based on remote sensing data. To achieve this aim, there is a need for a more precise understanding on what remote sensing data can detect in higher spatial scales taking into account the processes in plot scale. During the internship in University of Leeds, advised by Dr. Oliver Phillips, I propose to (1) acquire a database of long-term field data from RAINFOR network sites over Amazonia and calculate field-based metrics related to tree mortality and biomass loss; (2) develop and validate a method for automatic tree mortality detection using high-resolution multi-date images; (3) assess the satellite-based tree mortality detection and dead biomass estimates as a function of factors related to the trees (size of trees, position in the canopy, mode of death) and environment (Amazon regions, precipitation, and water deficit); and (4) assess the satellite tree mortality in function of spatio-temporal scales of the detection.

Scientific publications

(4)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

SILVA JUNIOR, CELSO H. L.; ANDERSON, LIANA O.; SILVA, ALINDOMAR L.; ALMEIDA, CATHERINE T.; DALAGNOL, RICARDO; PLETSCH, MIKHAELA A. J. S.; PENHA, THALES V.; PALOSCHI, RENNAN A.; ARAGAO, LUIZ E. O. C.. Fire Responses to the 2010 and 2015/2016 Amazonian Droughts. Frontiers in Earth Science, v. 7, MAY 15 2019. (17/15257-8, 16/02018-2, 15/22987-7)

DALAGNOL, RICARDO; PHILLIPS, OLIVER L.; GLOOR, EMANUEL; GALVAO, LENIO S.; WAGNER, FABIEN H.; LOCKS, CHARTON J.; ARAGAO, LUIZ E. O. C.. Quantifying Canopy Tree Loss and Gap Recovery in Tropical Forests under Low-Intensity Logging Using VHR Satellite Imagery and Airborne LiDAR. REMOTE SENSING, v. 11, n. 7, APR 1 2019. (16/17652-9, 17/15257-8, 15/50484-0, 15/22987-7)

DE MOURA, YHASMIN MENDES. Vulnerability of Amazonian forests to repeated droughts. PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, v. 373, n. 1760, NOV 19 2018. (16/17652-9, 15/22987-7, 16/02018-2, 15/50484-0, 17/15257-8)

DALAGNOL, RICARDO; WAGNER, FABIEN HUBERT; GALVAO, LENIO SOARES; NELSON, BRUCE WALKER; DE ARAGAO, LUIZ EDUARDO OLIVEIRA E CRUZ. Life cycle of bamboo in the southwestern Amazon and its relation to fire events. BIOGEOSCIENCES, v. 15, n. 20, p. 6087-6104, OCT 18 2018. (17/15257-8, 15/50484-0, 16/17652-9, 15/22987-7)