Using remote sensing observations together with a novel terrestrial biosphere model to understand global carbon and nitrogen cycles (RESEMON)
Academy fellowship project, 1.9.2020 – 31.8.2025
Public description of the project:
The recent remote sensing observations are providing more information about the terrestrial vegetation than ever before. To fully exploit the potential of these new observations, it’s important to use them together with a global terrestrial biosphere model. Mitigation to climate change requires reliable predictions of future trajectories of terrestrial carbon sinks. Nitrogen cycle plays an important role in these predictions, nevertheless its modelling at global scale still needs further validation and development.
In this work we will add diagnostic variables to a novel terrestrial biosphere model that will allow using recent remote sensing observations to evaluate the model performance and help in its further developments. For the model evaluation we will use observations made at many different scales. As an outcome of this work, we improve both the photosynthesis and nitrogen cycle of the model.
I will be working with the QUINCY model further extending the solar-induced fluoresence modelling I’ve made earlier (Thum et al., 2017). The QUINCY is also modelling the leaf nitrogen content, a variable that can also be detected by remote sensing.
I’m looking forward to collaborate with many Finnish and international colleagues. Especially I will be working with Dr. Sönke Zaehle from the Max-Planck Institute of Biogeochemistry (Jena, Germany) and Dr. Holly Croft (University of Sheffield, The U.K.)