Satellites unravel complex relationship between northern forests and climate
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The European Space Agency (ESA) Earth-observing satellites are helping to understand the intricate role that Eurasia's boreal forest plays in the chemical make-up of the atmosphere and the global climate system. By fostering new use of Earth observation data through the Atmosphere-Land Interaction Study (ALANIS), insight is being gained into how boreal forests contribute to greenhouse gas and aerosol concentration, and into the processes governing the interplay between the surface of the Earth and the atmosphere. ALANIS will focus on three themes: (1) Boreal lake/wetland dynamics and methane emissions; (2) Boreal forest fire plumes and greenhouse-gas/aerosol dispersion; (3) Natural and anthropogenic aerosol dynamics in the boreal region. Preliminary results of the project were presented at the ESA/iLEAPS/EGU conference on Earth Observation for Land-Atmosphere Interaction Science in November 2010.
Earth Observation for Land-Atmosphere Interaction Science conference, 3-5 November 2010
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