1

The NASA Land-Cover/Land-Use Change (LCLUC) Program:

Focus on South East Asia

Garik Gutman,LCLUC Program Manager

NASA HeadquartersWashington, DC

2

Land-Cover/Land-Use Change Program

• LCLUC is an interdisciplinary scientific theme within NASA’s Earth Science program. The ultimate vision of this program is to develop the capability for periodic global inventories of land use and land cover from space, to develop the scientific understanding and models necessary to simulate the processes taking place, and to evaluate the consequences of observed and predicted changes

• http://lcluc.hq.nasa.gov/

3

LCLUC: Drivers of Disturbance/Stress

Natural Drivers Natural hazards (fires, droughts,

floods, hurricanes, landslides) Invasive species Climate

Anthropogenic Drivers Agricultural changes Landscape modification, e.g.

urbanization Forest clearing, logging & fires Grazing by domestic animals

Socio-Economic Drivers• Technological change and

macro-economic transformations

• Political economy and institutional change

• Values, attitudes, beliefs, individual and household behavior

• Human population dynamics

4

LCLUC Consequences/Impacts

Forestry Agriculture Wetlands and coastal zone Water resources and their quality Carbon storage and release Habitat degradation and fragmentation Atmospheric processes

5

Tools

• Remote sensing observations (satellite and airborne)– Optical

• Hyper-spatial resolution multispectral (e.g. IKONOS, Orbview)• High resolution multispectral (e.g. Landsat, SPOT)• Moderate resolution multispectral (e.g. AVHRR, MODIS, MERIS)• Lidars

– Microwave• Passive• Radars

• In situ observations and intensive field campaigns• Modeling and integrative data analysis• Data and information systems

6

Systematic Missions - Observation of Key Earth System Interactions

Terra AquaLandsat 7

NASA LCLUC-relevant Missions

4/15/99 12/18/99 5/3/02

EO-1SRTM2/11/00 11/21/00

Exploratory Missions - Exploration of Specific Earth System Processes and Parameters and Demonstration of Technologies

7

AVHRR/MODIS

• spatial resolution 15m, 30m, 90m

2048 km swath

183 kmLandsat

• spatial resolution, 250m, 500m, 1000m

• spatial resolution, 15m, 30m

• global coverage, 2 days

• 16 day orbital repeat• seasonal global coverage

Synergistic Use of Optical Remote Sensing

~ 10 km• spatial resolution ~ 1m • global coverage, decades, if ever

Commercial Systems

ASTER 60 km• 45-60 day orbital repeat• global coverage, years

MISR• spatial resolution, 275m, 550m, 1100m

360 km• global coverage, 9 days

3300 km swathVIIRS

• spatial resolution, 400/800m (nadir (Vis/IR)) • global coverage, 2x/day/satellite

8

Non-NASA Missions

• Radars (Radarsat, ALOS)• Optical: MERIS, SPOT, IRS, etc.• Defense Meteorological Satellite Project

(DMSP)

9

Non-NASA Mission: Earth Night Lights Observed by DMSP

10CONGRATULATIONS TO THEOS !!

11

12

Program Make-up

• Total ~60 projects => more than 200 people – LCLUC Monitoring/Modeling – LCLUC/Carbon Cycle– LCLUC/Water Cycle– LCLUC/Climate/Environment/

Biodiversity

http://lcluc.hq.nasa.gov/

13

LCLUC Book

14

Global Land Monitoring at Moderate Spatial Resolution (30m)

• International cooperation is needed for developing global datasets– Land Surface Imaging Constellation– Global Land Surveys

• Global Land Survey (GLS) 2005– USGS-NASA joint effort involving L-5 international

cooperators– Develop a global orthorectified dataset from Landsat

observations based on measurements circa 2005 (2004-2007) with 30-m spatial res.

• GLS-2010– Landsat observations insufficient– International effort

15

LCLUC International Linkages to Global Programs

– GTOS/Global Observations of Forest Cover and Land-cover Dynamics (GOFC-GOLD)

– Global Land Project (GLP)– Integrated Land Ecosystem-Atmosphere

Processes Study (iLEAPS)

16

Support of Regional Initiatives

• LBA: Regional Field Campaign in Amazon• CARPE: Central African Regional Project on

the Environment in Congo Basin (with US AID)• NEESPI: Northern Eurasia program• MAIRS: Monsoon Area program

17

LCLUC Science Team MeetingsWashington, DCSpring2007: Climate/Carbon2008: Joint CC&E Focus Area meeting

InternationalFall-Winter2007: Drylands (NEESPI)

Urumqi, China2008: Tropics (MAIRS)

Kohn Kaen

18

Monsoon Asia Integrated Regional Study (MAIRS)

• the most active human development with a history of more than 5000 years civilization and highest population density of the world

• the most rapid development in last decades and is expected to continue rapid development in the incoming century

• human activities of the monsoon Asia region have and will have significant impacts on the environmental conditions, not only regionally but also globally

19

MAIRS Agenda• MAIRS Objectives

– To better understand how human activities in regions are interacting with and altering natural regional variability of the atmospheric, terrestrial, and marine components of the environment

– To contribute to the provision of a sound scientific basis for sustainable regional development

– To develop a predictive capability of estimating changes in global-regional linkages in the Earth System and to recognize on a sound scientific basis the future consequences of such changes

• Six cross-cutting issues of environmental change: Water, Energy, Food Security, Air quality and Health, Natural Disasters, Biodiversity

20

MAIRS Science Themes

• Four research themes– Rapid transformation of land and marine

resources in coastal Zones– Multiple stresses on ecosystems and

biophysical resources in high Mountain Zones– Vulnerability of ecosystems in Semi-arid Zones

due to changing climate and land use– Changes in resource use and emissions due to

rapid urbanization in Urban Zones.

21

Focus on SE Asia

22

Issues in the Monsoonal Zone

• Rapid pace of economic development • Cross-border trade and regionalization • Poverty alleviation and alternative livelihoods

for upland communities• Biofuel from energy security perspective • Alternate land uses in the context of climate

mitigation– Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and

Degradation (REDD)• Need for good database for scientific analysis

23

NASA Role in MAIRS• Lead the MAIRS remote sensing component

– Develop and maintain a regional satellite data base with raw data and products

– Develop and distribute special remote-sensing based datasets useful for climate modeling

– Facilitate access to satellite data and products by MAIRS investigators– Support regional calibration/validation activities

• Support regional network activities• Support MAIRS projects with a remote sensing component

that were peer-reviewed and selected for funding by NASA

24

NASA MAIRS SE Asia Projects• Jefferson Fox/East-West Center: The Expansion Of Rubber And

Its Implications For Water And Carbon Dynamics In Montane Mainland Southeast Asia

• Chandra Giri/ SAIC/USGS EROS Center: Tropical Mangrove Forests: Global Distributions And Dynamics (1990-2005)

• Atul Jain/University of Illinois: Land Cover And Land Use Change And Its Effects On Carbon Dynamics In Monsoon Asian Region

• Jack Liu/Michigan State University: Interactive Effects Of Conservation And Development Policies On Land Cover And Panda Habitat In The Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuary (China)

25

NASA MAIRS SE Asia Projects• Annemarie Schneider/University of Wisconsin: Monitoring And

Modeling Urbanization In China: A Mixed Methods And Multi-Scale Approach

•• Hanqin Tian/Auburn University: Land Use-Ecosystem-Climate

Interactions In Monsoon Asia

• Xiangming Xiao/University of New Hampshire: Developing Land Cover Classification Products In Monsoon Asia Over The Period Of 2004-2007 Through Integration Of Landsat and ALOS/PALSAR Images

• David Skole/Michigan State University: Enhancing Global Observations And Information On Tropical Forest Change Using Landsat Global Data

26

NASA Contributions• 8 new research projects (2008 selections)

(total ~$2M)• More expected as new selections this year• NASA-MAIRS Project Scientist• Coordination and support of meetings• Data

– GLS-2005 dataset – EOS (MODIS, ASTER) products– EO-1 (ALI, Hyperion)– IKONOS from previous acquisitions

27

MARS Structure

• Potential enhancements– International Organizational Committee

• Coordination– Focus Research Centers– Data Science Centers– Education Component

28

MAIRS Education• Education component is an important part• MAIRS projects include young scientists from

Asia • A structure for MAIRS Education

component?• MAIRS Early Career Scientist Conferences,

summer schools?• Post-doc exchanges?• GLOBE (for bringing kids into science)?

29