![]() In July there was a big change from our previous visit in April. On this trip, we are checking on how they have been working. In spring, we deployed automated instruments at the NEON tower site that continuously collect data. Our study site is at the Caribou Creek flux tower run by the National Science Foundation’s National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). Our goal is to better understand the sources of fluoresced light and how to use this information to describe productivity in boreal forests and tundra. In our study, we use sensitive instruments that can detect this fluorescence. The amount of light fluoresced is only a very small fraction of what is absorbed, which is why our eyes don’t see plants glowing. ![]() Fluorescence occurs during photosynthesis as some of the absorbed light energy is radiated out from the plant. Green leaves absorb light, and through photosynthesis take in carbon dioxide and water and produce oxygen and sugars. Our study focuses on measuring light emitted by plants called solar induced fluorescence. ![]() The goal of ABoVE is to improve our understanding of high latitude ecosystems, how these ecosystems respond to climate change, and how satellite data can provide information to describe ecosystem processes and aid management decisions. This project is part of the NASA Terrestrial Ecology program’s Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE). We visited this area in the spring to collect data during the very start of the growing season, and now we are returning to collect data during the peak of summer. Summer fieldwork for our project, “Clarifying Linkages Between Canopy Solar Induced Fluorescence (SIF) and Physiological Function for High Latitude Vegetation,” once again took our team from University of Maryland Baltimore County north to the boreal forests of central Alaska.
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