A Scoping Study for a NASA Tropical Forest Terrestrial Ecology Campaign

The tropics are experiencing dramatic changes as a result of climate change and land-use change. Shifts in carbon flux dynamics, water cycling, and species composition are resulting in feedbacks with globally important consequences for biodiversity, climate change, and food production. Yet, we also know that the tropical forests are not uniform. Their species diversity, climate, soils, and human impact vary enormously from the Americas to Africa to Asia. As a result, tropical forest ecosystems are already showing evidence of varying responses to climate and land-use change. However, these differences remain highly uncertain and poorly understood.

PANGEA is a NASA-funded effort to scope a 6- to 9-year multi-scale campaign in the tropics focused on improving understanding of the heterogeneous responses to climate change, with broad research focus on biodiversity, biogeochemical cycling, and food security. We are spending all of 2024 working with the international research and end-user communities to outline a possible campaign in the tropics. In December 2024, we will submit a white paper to NASA detailing our proposal.

If selected, the campaign would support coordinated fieldwork and airborne remote sensing data collection that will inform our use of satellite remote sensing and modeling to better understand the change dynamics in the tropics. We are working to coordinate across NASA programs (e.g., carbon cycle science, biodiversity, hydrology, applied science programs on agriculture) as well as with other U.S. and international funding agencies and donors. Although there is no guarantee that NASA will support the recommended project, this is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to assemble multi-disciplinary research communities to align efforts and outline a focused campaign.

Learn more about the project: https://tropicalforestscoping.com/

We will reserve a large portion of time for questions, discussion, and feedback.