Goal and Objectives

Our overarching scientific goal is to monitor and modeling spatio-temporal ET variability in interior Alaska. To achieve this goal our specific objectives are as follows:

1. Establish two long-term ET field sites in interior Alaska, one in a typical black spruce forest and the other in a birch and aspen forest.
2. Acquire, collate, and disseminate field data from the ET field sites in near-real time on a dedicated server hosted at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF).
3. Use data from the new ET stations to refine the existing TSEB model for interior Alaska, where boreal forests are the most widespread land cover type.
4. Use multisensor remote sensing data for improved land cover characterization, especially to derive parameters such as land surface temperature, soil moisture, vegetation type, and vegetation cover fraction.
5. Apply the newly adapted interior Alaska TSEB model to moderate resolution (60 m through 1 km pixel size) remote sensing derived input parameters to generate ET estimates for boreal forest dominated regions in interior Alaska followed by accuracy assessment and result dissemination.
6. Work with national, state, and local partners to integrate research into education, training, and outreach programs to university/college faculty, students, K-12 school teachers, and the end-user community.