Colorado State University

THE RESEARCH TEAM WILL INCLUDE DR. DEEPAK MISHRA AND ONE POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATE (PETER HAWMAN). UGA TEAM WILL WORK ON THE COLLECTION AND PROCESSING OF FIELD AND SATELLITE DATA, AND ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF A HIGH RESOLUTION GPP MODEL INCLUDING MODEL CALIBRATION, VALIDATION, AND CROSS-SATELLITE COMPARISONS. SPECIFIC TASKS INCLUDE: (1) RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF AN EDDY FLUX TOWER AT GRAND BAY, MS; (2) ANALYZING THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SENTINEL-2 DATA AND DERIVED CO-VARIABLES WITH PLANT GPP; (3) ESTABLISHMENT OF RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BIOPHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS ESTIMATED BY THE MODEL AND MEASURED IN THE FIELD, (4) ASSESSMENT OF MODELS ACCURACY, AND (5) CROSS-VALIDATION WITH GPP PRODUCTS FROM OTHER SATELLITES. THE UGA TEAM WILL ALSO CONDUCT EDDY COVARIANCE TOWER DATA ACQUISITION AT GRAND BAY, MS, AND SAPELO LTER SITES THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT. THEY WILL CONDUCT CO2 FLUX DATA PROCESSING, NOISE REMOVAL, FOOTPRINT CORRECTION, AND GAP FILLING AND CARRY OUT THE TOWERBASED GPP COMPUTATION TO PRODUCE THE GPP DATASET FOR SATELLITE-BASED MODEL CALIBRATION AND VALIDATION. MISHRA AND HIS TEAM WILL BE IN CHARGE OF THE DIGITAL ANALYSIS OF SATELLITE DATA, BIOPHYSICAL MODEL CALIBRATION, VALIDATION, UP-SCALING, AND MAP PRODUCT GENERATION. THE UGA TEAM WILL LEAD THE STATEKHOLDERS ENGAGEMENT WORKSHOPS EACH YEAR. TOGETHER WITH COLORADO STATE’S TEAM MEMBERS, UGA TEAM WILL PRESENT RESEARCH RESULTS AT SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS, DEVELOP MANUSCRIPTS FOR SUBMISSION TO SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS, AND PREPARE REPORTS TO NASA.

UAH WILL LEAD THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE HAIL PADS AND OUTREACH MATERIALS AND WILL WORK TO DISTRIBUTE THEM, ALONG WITH INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO USE THEM AND SEND IN THE DATA, ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST US. FURTHER, UAH WILL ASSIST IN THE ANALYSIS OF THE DATA COLLECTED, AND WILL LEAD A MANUSCRIPT ON THE RESULTS FROM THE WORK.

THE TASKS OF THIS PROJECT FOCUS ON ADVANCING COUPLED FIRE-ATMOSPHERE CAPABILITIES WITHIN THE WRFX FORECASTING FRAMEWORK. TECHNICAL TASKS THE TECHNICAL TASKS PERFORMED IN THIS PROJECT WILL INCLUDE: • ASSISTANCE IN WRF-SFIRE CODE DEVELOPMENT • DEVELOPMENT OF REGRESSION TESTING PROCEDURES AND CANONICAL TESTS • DEVELOPMENT OF IMPROVED FUEL MOISTURE MODEL FOR COARSE FUELS • ASSISTANCE IN IMPLEMENTATION OF AUTOMATED WORKFLOWS IN THE WRFX SYSTEM • ASSISTANCE IN CODE REFACTORING • ASSISTANCE IN THE TEST CASE SELECTION AND MODEL OUTPUT INTERPRETATION • DEVELOPMENT CALIBRATION AND TESTING OF ALTERNATIVE RATE OF SPREAD MODEL

GIVEN THE NEED FOR IMPROVED MODELS OF WATERFOWL HABITAT AND ABUNDANCE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA PI WILL HIRE A PHD STUDENT TO WORK CLOSELY WITH DR. JESSICA O’CONNELL AND HER FUTURE STUDENT TO DEVELOP HIERARCHICAL BAYESIAN MODELS OF WATERFOWL ABUNDANCE. THE STUDENT AND I WILL ESTIMATE WATERBIRD ABUNDANCE AND DIVERSITY AS A FUNCTION OF REMOTELY SENSED COVARIATES DERIVED FROM MODELS PRODUCED BY O’CONNELL AND A FUTURE GRADUATE STUDENT AT CSU. THESE MODELS WILL BE ADAPTED AND USED BY DUCKS UNLIMITED TO DIRECT FUNDS FOR WATERFOWL CONSERVATION.

THE CU DENVER TEAM WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE SJSU TEAM: 1. WRF-SFIRE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT 2. WRF-SFIRE SOFTWARE ENGINEERING, VERSION MANAGEMENT, AND WRF VERSION UPGRADE PATH 3. WRF-SFIRE REGRESSION TESTING 4. WRF-SFIRE USER DOCUMENTATION AND TRAINING MATERIALS

EVALUATION OF HAIL MELT PARAMETERIZATION USING SATELLITE DETECTION-COCORAHS OBSERVATION PAIRS. COCORAHS OBSERVATIONS SHOULD INCLUDE AT LEAST MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM SIZE OBSERVED OR SHOULD NOTE THAT NO HAIL WAS OBSERVED AT ALL. AER WILL START WITH EXISTING SATELLITE-OBSERVATION PAIRS AND INCLUDE ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS AS THEY COME ONLINE. SEARCH FOR RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN MODELED MAX HAIL SIZE ALOFT WITH TB DEPRESSION. LOOK FOR RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE ENVIRONMENTAL TEMPERATURE/MOISTURE PROFILE AND THE MINIMUM OBSERVED HAIL SIZE AND THE ENSEMBLE OF TOTAL MODELED HAIL MELT. USE THE INFORMATION GLEANED FROM THE PREVIOUS 4 STEPS AND MAKE AN ENSEMBLE-BASED MELTING ALGORITHM TO BE INCORPORATED INTO THE SATELLITE-BASED HAIL DETECTION ALGORITHM. TEST THE RESULTING ALGORITHM ON THE OBSERVATION-DETECTION PAIRS GATHERED IN YEAR 3 (AND HENCE INDEPENDENT OF THE ALGORITHM DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.)

NO SINGLE ANALYTICAL MEASUREMENT IS CURRENTLY ACCEPTED AS A “SMOKING GUN” FOR BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY. A PREPONDERANCE OF EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT BIOTIC VERSUS ABIOTIC SIGNATURES IS BEST GENERATED BY COMBINING MANY INDEPENDENT VALIDATING MEASUREMENTS ON A SAMPLE. GIVEN THE INSTRUMENTATION CONSTRAINTS ON FUTURE MISSIONS, WE AIM TO EXPERIMENTALLY FIND THE OPTIMAL AND MINIMAL COMBINATION OF METRICS THAT COLLECTIVELY YIELD THE GREATEST DISCRIMINATION BETWEEN ABIOTIC AND BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES. INDIVIDUAL BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES (E.G. CELL CULTURES) AND ABIOTIC SAMPLES (E.G. SILICA COLLOIDS) WILL BE DIVIDED INTO ALIQUOTS TO BE MEASURED BY DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES IN DIFFERENT LABORATORIES. DATA FROM MULTIPLE ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES ON INDIVIDUAL SAMPLES WILL BE COMBINED WITH PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS (PCA), WHICH REDUCES LARGE DATASETS TO AGGREGATE METRICS (PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS) THAT CONTAIN THE LARGEST VARIATION IN THE DATA. MEASUREMENTS ON MULTIPLE SAMPLE TYPES WILL BE SCORED ON DIFFERENT PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS TO FIND WHICH BEST DISCRIMINATES FOR THE PRESENCE OF LIFE. THE BEST COMPONENTS WILL REVEAL WHICH ANALYTICAL METHODS, AND WHICH SPECTRAL REGIONS WITHIN THOSE METHODS, PROVIDE A HOLISTIC CONFIDENCE METRIC BASED ON THE TOTALITY OF OUR OBSERVATIONS. NO PRECONCEIVED THEORIES FOR DETECTABLE SIGNATURES ARE ASSUMED, BUT RATHER, A DATA-DRIVEN APPROACH TO ESTABLISHING A SUMMATIVE HOLISTIC METRIC FOR BOTH ABIOTIC AND BIOLOGICAL SIGNATURES IS PLANNED. NO NEW TECHNOLOGIES ARE NECESSARY FOR IMMEDIATE PROGRESS. SAMPLE VARIABILITY WILL FIRST BE TESTED WITH LAB CULTURES (SIMPLE BACTERIA, YEAST, AND ARCHAEA; MARINE AND FRESHWATER SAMPLES), THEN ENVIRONMENTAL CULTURES FROM UNIQUE EARTH HABITATS MOST LIKELY TO MIMIC EXTRATERRESTRIAL HABITATS THAT MIGHT HARBOR LIFE WITHIN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM. THE ASSEMBLED TEAM (SANTANGELO, HAFNER, MORA, AND VU) COLLECTIVELY HAVE THE EXPERIENCE, EQUIPMENT, AND EXPERTISE TO MAXIMIZE GAINS TOWARD DEFINING A HOLISTIC BIOSIGNATURE METRIC WITHIN THE REQUESTED THREE-YEAR FUNDING PERIOD.

THE ROLE OF THE DU CO-PI (DR. KEMINK) IN THIS PROPOSAL IS TO ASSIST WITH THE WATERFOWL POPULATION ECOLOGY EXPERTISE, MODELLING, DATA COMPILATION, ANALYSIS, AND DISSEMINATION ACROSS THE STUDY REGION. SPECIFICALLY, DR. KEMINK WILL PROVIDE THE DU GROUND-TRUTH DATA, ASSIST WITH ACQUISITION OF HAPET GROUND-TRUTH DATA, AND COORDINATE WITH O’CONNELL AND RIECKE IN DEVELOPING REPORTS AND MANUSCRIPTS FOR SUBMISSION TO SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. SHE WILL ALSO COORDINATE ON PROJECT AND PRESENTATION DEVELOPMENT. IN ADDITION TO HER MODELING EXPERTISE SHE WILL ALSO CONTRIBUTE TO THE PROJECT THROUGH HER NETWORK OF COLLABORATORS IN THE REGION, TO WHICH SHE WILL DISSEMINATE THE RESEARCH FROM THIS STUDY AND COMMUNICATE THE RESULTS TO CONSERVATION MANAGERS IN DU AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.

COLLABORATION ON, "TOWARD RECONCILATION OF DECADAL NORTH AMERICAN TOP-DOWN FLUX ESTIMATES FROM NESTED CMS-FLUX AND CONTINENTAL-SCALE CARBON FLUX INVENTORIES."