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MONITORING ECOSYSTEMS FROM SPACE: THE GLOBAL FIDUCIALS PROGRAM
Citation:
Williams, D J. AND L. Friedl. MONITORING ECOSYSTEMS FROM SPACE: THE GLOBAL FIDUCIALS PROGRAM. Presented at Science Forum 2003, Washington, DC, May 5-7, 2003.
Impact/Purpose:
The objectives of this task are to:
Assess new remote sensing technology for applicability to landscape characterization; Integrate multiple sensor systems data for improved landscape characterization;
Coordinate future technological needs with other agencies' sensor development programs;
Apply existing remote sensing systems to varied landscape characterization needs; and
Conduct remote sensing applications research for habitat suitability, water resources, and terrestrial condition indicators.
Description:
Images from satellites provide valuable insights to changes in land-cover and ecosystems. Long- term monitoring of ecosystem change using historical satellite imagery can provide quantitative measures of ecological processes and allows for estimation of future ecosystem condition. Global change research questions may be answered by identifying, monitoring, and analyzing a collection of specific ecosystems, or fiducials. A fiducial site is defined here as a geographic location to be used as an "environmental benchmark" or an environmentally-significant site for the long-term monitoring of processes, both natural and anthropogenic, associated with the causes or effects of environmental change. There is no specific criteria for what constitutes a fiducial site, but, the sites ideally support an environmental process that needs to be monitored over time so that scientists can better understand the changes that are occurring. Some sites are linked to other ongoing long-term ground based ecological research programs. The Global Fiducials Program is preparing an archive, or library, of satellite images to support current and future scientists and policy-makers. For the next 25 years, satellites will collect periodic images