Young Students, Satellites Aid Understanding of Climate-Biosphere Link Vol. Copyright 2000 American Geophysical Union Data collected by young students from kindergarten through high school are being combined with satellite data to develop a more consistent understanding of the intimate connection between climate dynamics and the terrestrial biosphere. Comparison of the two sets of data involving the onset of budburst among trees and other vegetation has been extremely encouraging. Surface-atmosphere interactions involving exchanges of carbon, water, and energy are strongly affected by interannual variability in the timing and length of the vegetation growing season, and satellite remote sensing has the unique ability to consistently monitor global spatiotemporal variability in growing season dynamics. 1 Onset of greenness in 1999.
Black areas are barren.
There is a general south-north progression of the onset in the eastern United States, late onset for agricultural areas in the midwest, and a strong elevational effect in the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains. Data are smoothed with a median filter. Students permanently marked two branches of two trees of the dominant upper-canopy species. They were cautioned to select native species away from irrigation and fertilization sources. The intention was to select trees most representative of the dominant overstory species.