Needle Absorptance Characteristics During the Forest Ecosystem Dynamics - Multisensor Aircraft Campaign

Forest Ecosystem Dynamics Multisensor Airborne Campaign (FED MAC): Needle Absorptance Characteristics The Biospheric Sciences Branch (formerly Earth Resources Branch) within the Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and associated University investigators are involved in a research program entitled Forest Ecosystem Dynamics (FED) which is fundamentally concerned with vegetation change of forest ecosystems at local to regional spatial scales (100 to 10,000 meters) and temporal scales ranging from monthly to decadal periods (10 to 100 years). The nature and extent of the impacts of these changes, as well as the feedbacks to global climate, may be addressed through modeling the interactions of the vegetation, soil, and energy components of the boreal ecosystem. Needle reflectance and transmittance measurements were made in order to derive needle absorptance characteristics of red spruce (Picea rubens), eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), cedar, balsam fir, and white pine. Surface directional radiances and reflectances were measured for the the leaf samples with a spectroradiometer (LICOR LI-1800 Spectroradiometer with an integrating sphere attachment). Samples for the laboratory measurements were transported within 24 to 48 hours, and less than 96 h elapsed between the time of branch excision until the spectral measurement. Usually, this was less than 48 hours. The FED Home Page is at: "https://forest.gsfc.nasa.gov/".