Remote Sensing

Satellite-based observations of land surface reflectance in the visible and near-infrared wavelengths measured by AVHRR and MODIS sensors provide a nearly 30 year record of light absorptance by vegetation (FPAR), vegetation cover (f_c) and vegetation phenology (the seasonality of vegetation activity).

Micrometeorology

Ground-based eddy covariance measurements of CO₂, H₂O and energy exchange between the land surface and the atmosphere collected from around the world by networks of micrometerological towers are used to develop and test remote sensing models of land surface fluxes that are driven with satellite estimates of FPAR, f_c and phenology.

Ecophysiology

Process-based studies on leaves, canopies and soil microbial communities are used to parameterize relationships between fluxes (photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration, evaporation, etc.) and the biophysical status of the vegetation and soil and meteorological conditions of the atmosphere that form the basis of the remote sensing models.