Satellite Supported Generation of Area Wide Climate and Vegetation Datasets for an Integrative Analysis of Ecosystem-Biodiversity Relationships on Grassland Area

DFG 1374 (NA 783/3-1)

Subproject within the DFG priority program 1374: Exploratories for large-scale and long-term functional biodiversity research

The project aims in the satellite supported generation of area-wide datasets on the landscape scale as a basis or further integrative analysis of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships on grassland areas. The two main subjects are (i) the provision of high resolution meteorological datasets and (ii) the generation of selected vegetation type specific datasets, namely the light use efficiency and the gross primary productivity. Therefore, an integrative approach will be followed that links readily available plot-based meteorological and ecological records from up to 150 experimental plots and additional botany information from 1500 study plots with optical remote sensing data.

The basis of this approach will be the individual in-situ datasets which are physically or statistically linked with spatio-temporal collocated satellite product information and distributed in space based on the satellite-derived data values. The satellite retrievals that will be used/developed within this project will be implemented as operational techniques to ensure an efficient and inexpensive weekly to quasi-continuous monitoring of the parameters.

Both datasets will form a valuable basis for virtually all other core and subprojects for further analysis. In addition, a close cooperation is intended with the botany core project (PI Fischer) to perform an integrative analysis of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships based on the area-wide datasets which will also form an inevitable basis for future ecophysiological projects or model applications.