Kristin Byrd: NASA NIP

Former PhD student Kristin Byrd is a NASA New Investigator for her proposal "Advanced remote sensing to quantify temperate peatland capacity for belowground carbon capture." We'll be collaborating on the project with a PhD student. Stay tuned for more information.

Peatlands represent 16-33% of the global soil carbon pool. Temperate peatlands –typically dominated by grasses and sedges such as Typha spp. (cattail) and Schoenoplectus acutus (tule) – generate among the greatest annual rates of net primary productivity (NPP, up to 8 kg m²) and soil carbon storage (up to 3 kg m²) for natural ecosystems. Belowground tissues represent 20-80% of total NPP, thus understanding belowground NPP (BNPP) in these wetland ecosystems is particularly important. Under optimal conditions to minimize methane emissions, peat or soil carbon sequestration in restored temperate peatlands may serve an important role in large-scale carbon storage. Remote sensing techniques hold great potential for long-term monitoring of changes in wetland area and carbon stocks, but monitoring belowground carbon pools and productivity remains a challenge given the lack of adequate investigations to build relationships between the aboveground NPP (ANPP) and BNPP. The overarching goal of this proposal is to advance understanding in BNPP and greenhouse gas (GHG) flux measurements of emergent wetland vegetation under varying conditions and scale up the same through advanced remote sensing data and statistical models.