TIDAL WETLANDS PROVIDE A NUMBER OF IMPORTANT ECOSYSTEM SERVICES INCLUDING FLOOD CONTROL SEDIMENT CAPTURE AND NUTRIENT UPTAKE. ALTHOUGH WETLANDS COVER ONLY 5-8% OF THE EARTH S SURFACE THEY CONTAIN A DISPROPORTIONATE AMOUNT APPROXIMATELY 20-30% OF THE EARTH S TOTAL SOIL CARBON. DESPITE THEIR ENORMOUS ECOLOGICAL AND ECONOMIC VALUE TIDAL WETLANDS ARE SUBJECT TO MANY NATURAL AND ANTHROPOGENIC STRESSORS INCLUDING SEA LEVEL RISE NUTRIENT ENRICHMENT AND COASTAL DEVELOPMENT. THE SPATIAL EXTENT OF COASTAL WETLANDS AND ITS CHANGE IS AMONG THE BIGGEST UNKNOWNS IN OUR EFFORTS TO ASSESS THE ECOLOGICAL HEALTH OF THESE SYSTEMS AND THEIR RESPONSES TO PAST AND FUTURE STRESSORS. HERE I PROPOSE TO DEVELOP NEW REMOTE SENSING TOOLS FOR CHARACTERIZING AND MONITORING THE SPATIAL EXTENT INUNDATION REGIMES AND VEGETATION COMMUNITIES OF TIDAL MARSH ECOSYSTEMS. VEGETATION COMMUNITY CHARACTERIZATION PROVIDES INDICATIONS OF ECOLOGICAL DISTURBANCE AND CARBON SEQUESTRATION POTENTIAL. CHARACTERIZATION OF TIDAL INUNDATION PROVIDES ASSESSMENT OF LOCATIONS WHERE TIDAL MARSHES ARE LIKELY TO BE LOST DUE TO SEA LEVEL RISE IN ADDITION TO PROVIDING AN ASSESSMENT OF DISSOLVED ORGANIC CARBON FLUXES. BY COMBINING INFORMATION ON TIDAL MARSH VEGETATION AND TIDAL INUNDATION CHARACTERIZATIONS A MORE COMPLETE PICTURE OF WETLAND CARBON CYCLING AND WETLAND ECOLOGICAL HEALTH EMERGES. MY PRELIMINARY FINDINGS INDICATE THAT RADAR OBSERVATIONS ARE BEST SUITED TO THE CHARACTERIZATION OF TIDAL INUNDATION WHEREAS A FUSED RADAR-OPTICAL APPROACH IS MOST PRODUCTIVE FOR VEGETATION CHARACTERIZATION. THESE SPACE-BORNE OBSERVATIONS HAVE BEEN AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE MATCHED WITH IN-SITU TIDAL OBSERVATIONS AND VEGETATION CHARACTERIZATIONS IN ORDER TO VERIFY THE ACCURACY OF REMOTE SENSING-BASED CHARACTERIZATIONS OF TIDAL MARSHES OVER LARGE SPATIAL EXTENTS. RESULTS FROM THIS STUDY WILL BE DIRECTLY RELEVANT TO NASA'S EARTH SCIENCE DIVISION OVERARCHING SCIENCE GOALS TO "DETECT AND PREDICT CHANGES IN EARTH S ECOLOGICAL AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES INCLUDING LAND COVER BIODIVERSITY AND THE GLOBAL CARBON CYCLE" AND "FURTHER THE USE OF EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE RESEARCH TO INFORM DECISIONS AND PROVIDE BENEFITS TO SOCIETY". THIS PROJECT WILL RESULT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW REMOTE SENSING TOOLS FOR ASSESSING IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN ACTIVITIES ON COASTAL WETLANDS AND THE MANY SERVICES THESE ECOSYSTEMS PROVIDE.

Research Foundation Of The City University Of New York, New York NY

Investigators