Current research projects
1. Spatio-temporal variation in timing of peak foliage color of deciduous forests in fall and associated environmental factors
Quantifying timing and intensity of fall foliage color changes is important since fall leaf color changes have both ecological and economic impacts. The visual cue of leaf color change in fall is associated with animal species activities. The striking color of leaves displayed in autumn is a key element of fall foliage ecotourism. Moreover, how climate and weather variation affects the leaf colors and the timing of fall foliage gets considerable attention from the public recently. However, we know too little about the effects of environmental conditions on the timing or the change in brightness of fall foliage color because of the challenges in observation and quantification on fall foliage color changes, and complicated mechanisms in autumn phenology .
2. Multi-dimensional Understanding in Spatiotemporal Variability of Temperate Forest Phenology and the Responses to Environmental Stresses
3. Climate extremes effects on Land Surface Phenology in Temperate Forests of Eastern North America
Extreme weather and climate events occurred with higher frequency and magnitude in recent years. These events, such as frost, severe drought, heatwaves and heavy rainfall, caused substantial impacts on the ecosystems, human health and activities. However, the effects from these short-term extreme events on ecosystems processes (e.g. phenology and ecosystem productivity) are understudied. Understanding how extreme weather events affect plant phenology and carbon dynamics is crucial because phenological shifts are bioindicators of climate change and also influence carbon cycling, which can have additional climatic feedback.
Anomalies of summer heat and spring drought in 2012
4. Monitoring forest fall foliage color change patterns by Unmanned Aerial Vehicle system
The main goal of this research project is to investigate deciduous forest canopy foliage color change patters in fall at individual and species level to validate and relate to community and landscape scale fall phenology (i.e. timing of leaf coloration and leaf drop) derived from satellite imagery. An UAV drone will carry a sensor to collect time series images of forest canopy through fall time at very fine spatial resolution (e.g. about 10cm). This spatial resolution from UAV images allows to identify tree species, to calculate tree crown sizes, to estimate tree canopy color change percentage, and to estimate tree canopy leaf phenology.
Videos of fall forest canopies made by Drone
(Shot with a Phantom 4 Pro by Adam Wilson over Hunter's Creek Park in Wales, NY)