Two Vipers Receive Central Continuing Fellowship Awards

Mike Alonzo (Graduate Division Dissertation Fellowship): My research goal at UCSB is to develop the methods required to map forest structure and ecosystem function in urban areas. To achieve this goal, I will combine information from two types of remotely sensed data: airborne hyperspectral imagery and light detection and ranging (lidar). The former is frequently used to answer questions about vegetation health, biochemical composition, and morphology and has been previously employed to identify tree species from above. The latter, using laser pulses, can be used to precisely measure the three dimensional structure of landforms, buildings, and forests. I will use the two together in my downtown Santa Barbara, California study area to complete three projects leading to my dissertation. First, I use the hyperspectral and lidar data to identify tree species. Second, I will measure important crown parameters such as leaf area index (LAI). Third, and finally, I will use the species and LAI information to build spatially explicit models of the urban forest’s potential for air pollution removal, stormwater runoff mitigation, and building energy use reduction.

Erin Wetherley (The Brython Davis Endowment Graduate Fellowship): The Brython Davis Endowment Graduate Fellowship is intended to provide support to students who demonstrate outstanding past academic achievement as well as future promise. It is designated for children of regular members of the U.S. Navy or Marine Corps. It provides one-quarter of fellowship support for a continuing graduate student. The objective of my research is to develop an understanding of urban vegetation evapotranspiration using remotely sensed imagery. Currently, more than half the global population lives in an urban area and it is expected that this urban population will continue to grow. The urbanization associated with this mass migration alters local energy and water budgets, impacting local climate, human health, resource use, and economic costs. Urban vegetation evapotranspiration is a key factor in the moderation of urban climate. I am investigating methods that will improve remote urban surface discrimination and describe urban evapotranspiration in order to explore how it changes across the variable urban surface.