The session is entitled: B068: Remote sensing of ecosystem functional processes in natural and human-influenced systems
Session ID# 13500
Session Description:
The functional characteristics of natural and human-influenced systems include ecological, physical, and sociological processes, and their interactions. Historically, Earth systems have been categorized by their structural and compositional features (e.g. vegetation types), but rarely have spatio-temporal analyses focused on functional features of systems, in other words, how systems operate rather than how they appear. An understanding of the diversity and distribution of ecosystem functionality will be crucial for both basic and applied aspects of Earth system sciences. Remote sensing, particularly that with broad spatial coverage and relatively high temporal frequency, provides an important tool for evaluating ecosystem functions, such as energy exchange, and carbon and water cycling, and may also be applicable for assessing sociological processes (e.g. land use). In this manner, Ecosystem Functional Types (EFTs) and Sociological EFTs (SEFTs) can be developed to represent areas of the land surface that show coordinated natural and human responses to environmental drivers.
Primary Convener: Howard E Epstein, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States
Conveners: Domingo Alcaraz-Segura, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain and Javier Cabello, Universidad de Almeria, Almeria, Spain
https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm16/preliminaryview.cgi/Session13500.html
