National Aeronautics and Space Administration. G. Diak (PI), J. Norman, T. Gower, and J. Foley (Co-PI's). 1999-2002.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison component of the Upper Midwest RESAC will apply NASA and other remote sensing data and modern biophysical process models to forestry and agricultural problems that have substantial economic and environmental importance in the Upper Midwest region. University, public sector (including both state and federal agencies) and corporate partners are included in this unique effort to bring state-of-the-art monitoring and modeling tools into the every-day decisions made by public and private managers in forestry and agriculture. Specific applications in the forestry sector will evaluate forest growth, health, and carbon sink strength, with the goal of attaining sustainable forestry practices under current conditions, and in the event of regional climate change. The agricultural applications, to be developed for selected regions within the Upper Midwest, have been identified by private-sector and governmental partners as having high potential for producing significant economic and environmental benefits.
Agricultural applications include:
evaluation of daily soil moisture in the upper 15 cm of soil;
evaluating grain moisture versus time after crop maturity;
evaluating the soil nitrogen (N) budget; and
the production of pest and disease indicators.
Certain global-change issues that may have significant impact on the region's natural resource systems will be also investigated, supporting the goals of United States Global Climate Research Program for regional assessments, and providing valuable information on the susceptibility of the Upper Midwest to regional climate change.
Climate investigations include:
long-term climate change -- the effect of potential shifts in precipitation patterns due to CO2 warming;
mean storm-track position over Central North America from global warming, etc., and;
climate variability -- the effect of year-to-year variation on the hydrologic cycle, including drought and flooding events.
