Brian Dunbar Headquarters, Washington, D.C. December 2, 1992 (Phone: 202/358-1547) Randee Exler Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. (Phone: 301/286-8955) RELEASE: 92-215 UNITED STATES AND CANADA ANNOUNCE NEW ECOLOGICAL STUDY NASA and several other U.S. and Canadian agencies have selected an international team of more than 200 scientists to study the relationships between northern forests and the atmosphere and how those relationships affect the global environment. The Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) is intended to conduct ground-based, airborne and satellite measurements in a 4-year, $30-million program. The campaign will be conducted in the northern, or boreal, forests of central Canada in 1993 and 1994. The campaign comprises a range of related investigations to study the ecosystem's climate, drainage, soil and vegetation, their internal dynamics and links to the global environment. One study area will be the forest's role in regulating climate. Many scientists predict that if the climate warms, large amounts of carbon dioxide and methane, greenhouse gases that trap heat near the Earth's surface, could be released from boreal soil and vegetation. This release could in turn increase local temperatures, feeding back into global climate change. "The entire boreal forest could undergo major changes if the climatic warming, that some people have predicted, comes to pass," said Dr. Diane E. Wickland, BOREAS Program Manager at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. "BOREAS is an exciting opportunity to examine the boreal forest's exchanges of 'greenhouse gases,' its regional energy balance and its ecological vitality." Predicting Change "It is vitally important that we learn more about how the boreal forest functions and interacts with the climate system so that we may predict how the boreal forest might respond to change," she said. The study will be conducted at two sites, each approximately 240 square miles (600 square kilometers), in and around Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan, and Nelson House, Manitoba, Canada. These sites represent ecological conditions typical of the boreal forest's northern and southern limits and lie in the continental interior, where climatic warming and drying could be severe. The study also investigates the exchanges of energy, water and heat between the boreal forest and the atmosphere. The study also will seek to develop remote-sensing techniques so that understanding of boreal- atmosphere exchange processes can be extended from local to regional scales. BOREAS is a component of both the U.S. and Canadian global change research programs. NASA's component is part of Mission to Planet Earth, the agency's long-term effort to study the Earth as a global environmental system. Mission to Planet Earth programs will monitor the interaction of large environmental components -- land, oceans, atmosphere and biosphere -- to allow scientists to better understand natural changes in the Earth and to differentiate natural change from human-induced changes. NASA and the Canadian BOREAS Coordinating Committee received 229 proposals in response to their joint solicitations for the study. These proposals were evaluated by an international scientific peer review panel for overall scientific merit and then further analyzed to achieve a selection that provided for a balanced project, including the required measurements, analyses and modeling for BOREAS. Collaborative Special Project The recommended Canadian university proposals were combined into a Collaborative Special Project proposal for review and consideration by the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada. Eighty proposals were selected by NASA, the CBCC and NSERC for participation in BOREAS. Fifty-one are from U.S. institutions, 23 from Canadian institutions and six were from European institutions. The U.S. investigations include 22 government proposals, 24 from universities and five from private organizations. The Canadian investigations were divided between 11 government studies and 12 university proposals. The U.S. and Canadian organizations providing core funding for BOREAS are NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, NSERC, Environment Canada, Forestry Canada, Energy, Mines and Resources Canada and Agriculture Canada. Other participating organizations include the Royal Society of Canada, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Geologic Survey, the Nelson House First Nation, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, Inc., and the National Research Council of Canada. BOREAS implementation is being led in the U.S. by NASA and in Canada by the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing. NASA's portion of BOREAS is managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., for the Earth Science and Applications Division of the Office of Space Science and Applications. Dr. Piers Sellers and Dr. Forrest Hall are the project managers. - end - Editors Note: A listing of BOREAS investigations and principal investigators is available by calling the NASA Headquarters News Room on 202/453-8400. BOREAS INVESTIGATIONS AND PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS The selected principal investigators for BOREAS, their institutions, and the titles of their investigations are listed below. These scientists and their co-investigators (not listed below) will constitute the BOREAS science team. Anderson, D. W. University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. "Stores and Dynamics of Organic Matter in Boreal Ecosystems." Anderson, Dean E. U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado. "Exchange of Trace Gases, Water and Energy in Disturbed and Undisturbed Boreal Forest Biomes." Apps, Michael J. Forestry Canada, Northwest Region, Edmonton, Alberta. "Annual Carbon Budget and Climate Induced Changes in Boreal Forest Ecosystems at the Landscape Scale." Baldocchi, Dennis. NOAA Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division/Air Resources Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. "Experimental and Modeling Studies of Water Vapor, Sensible Heat, and CO2 Exchange over and under a Boreal Forest." Band, Lawrence E. University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario. "Simulation of Boreal Ecosystem Carbon and Water Budgets: Scaling from Local to Regional Estimates." Banta, Robert M. NOAA Wave Propagation Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado. "Outer-Boundary-Layer Effects on Surface Fluxes of Momentum, Heat, Moisture, and Greenhouse Gases from the Boreal Forest." Berry, Joseph A. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Stanford, California. "Measurement and Prediction of CO2 and H2O Exchange from Boreal Forest Tree Species." Betts, Alan K. Atmospheric Research, Middlebury, Vermont. "Boundary Layer Research for BOREAS." Black, T. A. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia. "Boreal Forest - Atmosphere Interactions: Exchanges of Energy, Water Vapour and Trace Gases." Bonan, Gordan. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado. "Estimating Regional Biosphere-Atmosphere Exchange of Carbon Dioxide and Water in Boreal Forests with Ecosystem Models." Breon, Francois-Marie. Meteo France, Toulouse Cedex, France. "Study of the Boreal Forest Effects on Surface-Atmosphere Fluxes." - 1 - Bukata, Robert P. National Water Research Institute, Environment Canada, Burlinton, Ontario. "Utilizing Remotely Sensed Data to Model Limnological Carbon Budgets and Primary Production in Boreal Ecosystems." Chang, Alfred T. C. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. "Validation of a Passive Microwave Snow Water Equivalent Algorithm Using an Energy Balance Model." Cihlar, Josef. Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Ottawa, Ontario. "Land Cover and Primary Productivity in the Boreal Forest." Crill, Patrick M. University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire. "Magnitude and Control of Trace Gas Exchange in Boreal Ecosystems." Cuenca, Richard H. Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon. "Coupled Atmosphere-Forest Canopy-Soil Profile Monitoring and Simulation." Curran, Paul. University College of Swansea, Swansea, United Kingdom. "Coupling Remotely Sensed Data to Ecosystem Simulation Models." Davis, Robert E. U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, New Hampshire. "Distributed Energy Transfer Modeling in Snow and Soil. Deblonde, Godelieve. Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, Ottawa, Ontario. "Retrieval of Boreal Forest Leaf Area Index from Multiple Scale Remotely Sensed Vegetation Indices." Deering, Donald W. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. "Radiative Transfer Characteristics of Boreal Forest Canopies and Algorithms for Energy Balance and PAR Absorption." den Hartog, Gerry. Atmosphere Environment Service, Environment Canada, Downsview, Ontario. "AES Flux Tower Measurements for BOREAS: Exchange of Energy, Water Vapour and Trace Gases Project." Desjardins, R. L. and J. Ian MacPherson. Centre for Land and Biological Resources, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. "Areal Estimates of Mass and Energy Exchange from a Boreal Forest Biome." Dickinson, Robert E. University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona. "Incorporation of Boreal Forest Ecosystem Description into Climate Modeling Framework." Dobson, M. Craig. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. "BOREAS: Apportionment of Above Ground Biomass and Permafrost Determination Using Synthetic Aperture Radar." - 2 - Ehleringer, James. University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Lawrence Flanagan, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario. "Vegetation-Atmosphere CO2 and H2O Exchange Processes: Stable Isotope Analyses." Elkins, James W. and Peter S. Bakwin. NOAA Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, and University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado. "Regional Climatology of Greenhouse Gases in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer." England, Anthony W. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. "The Diurnal and Annual Radiobrightness of Boreal Forest." Fitzjarrald, David R. State University of New York, Albany, New York. "Surface Exchange Observations in the Canadian Boreal Forest Region." Gal-Chen, Tzvi. University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma. "Four Dimensional Model Assimilation of BOREAS Meteorological Data." Goel, Narendra S. State University of New York, Binghamton, New York. Boreal Forest Community Composition and Structure, Photosynthesis, Remote Sensing, Scaling and Net Carbon Flux." Goodison, Barry E. Canadian Climate Centre, Downsview, Ontario. "Determination of Snow Cover Variations in the Boreal Forest Using Passive Microwave Radiometry." Goward, Samuel N. University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland. "Biospheric Dynamics in the Boreal Forest Ecotone." Gower, Stith T. University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. "Measurements and Scaling of Carbon Budgets for Contrasting Boreal Forest Sites." Green, Robert O. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. "Surface and Atmosphere Measurements and Radiative Transfer Modeling for the Calibration and Validation of the Airborne Visible-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) for Quantitative Data Analysis at BOREAS." Hall, Forrest, Piers Sellers, and Alan Nelson. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. "Use of Biophysical Models and Satellite Remote Sensing to Quantify the Climate/Land Surface Interactions Over a Boreal Forest Biome." Harding, Richard J. Institute of Hydrology, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. "The Regional Representation of the Energy and Moisture Fluxes from Snow Covered Areas in the BOREAS Experiment." - 3 - Hogg, E. H. Northern Forestry Centre, Forestry Canada, Edmonton, Alberta. "Climate Change Effects on Net Primary Productivity Across a Boreal Forest Transect." Harriss, Robert C. University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire. "Modeling Climate-Biosphere Interactions in the Boreal Forest." Holben, Brent N. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. "Satellite Estimation of PAR and UV-B Irradiances and Long Term Estimates of Trends of UV-B from Ozone Depletion and Cloud Variability at the BOREAS Sites." Irons, James R. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. "Dynamics of Canopy Photosynthesis and Stomatal Conductance in the Boreal Forest: A Study Using Airborne, Multi-Angle, Imaging Spectroradiometer Data." Jarvis, Paul G. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. "The CO2-Exchanges of Boreal Forest in BOREAS." Kelly, Robert D. University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, and Donald H. Lenschow, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado. "Airborne Investigation of Biosphere-Atmosphere Interactions over the Boreal Forest." Kharuk, Vjacheslav I. Russian Academy of Sciences, Krasnoyarsk, Russia. "The Tree's Bark Input in Tree-Atmosphere Interaction." Mahrt, Larry. Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon. "Fluxes over Inhomogeneous Surfaces in BOREAS." Margolis, Hank. Laval University, Ste-Foy, Quebec. "Relationship between Measures of Absorbed and Reflected Radiation and the Photosynthetic Capacity of Boreal Forest Canopies and Understories." Markham, Brian L. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. "Characterization of Atmospheric Optical Properties for BOREAS." McCaughey, J. Harry. Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, and Dennis E. Jelinski, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York. "Surface Energy and Water Balances of Forest and Wetland Subsystems in the Boreal Forest: Surface Atmosphere Links and Ecological Controls." Middleton, Elizabeth M. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. "CO2 and Water Fluxes in the Boreal Forest Overstory: Relationship to FPAR and Vegetation Indices for Needles/Leaves." - 4 - Miller, John R. York University, North York, Ontario. "Variation in Radiometric Properties of the Boreal Forest Landscape as a Function of Ecosystem Dynamics." Monson, Russell K. University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado. "The Relationship between Non-Methane Hydrocarbon Emission and Leaf Carbon Balance in the Boreal Forest: An Approach for Mechanistic Ecosystem Modeling." Moore, Tim R. McGill University, Montreal, Quebec. "Carbon Dioxide and Methane Exchanges between Wetland and Upland Soils and the Atmosphere, Southern Boreal Forest." Niki, Hiromi. York University, North York, Ontario. "Ambient Measurements of Ozone, Nitrogen Oxides, and Non-Methane Hydrocarbons." Peck, Eugene L. Hydex Corporation, Vienna, Virginia. "Remote Sensing of Hydrologic Variables in Boreal Areas." Pielke, Roger A. Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, Colorado. "Modeling Biosphere-Atmosphere Interactions at Various Scales in Support of BOREAS. Ranson, K. Jon. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. "Distribution and Structure of Biomass in Boreal Forest Ecosystems." Roulet, Nigel T. York University, North York, Ontario. "The Fluxes of Energy and Trace Gases from Boreal Beaver Ponds and Dry Upland Forest Floor in the Northern BOREAS Field Site." Running, Steven W. University of Montana, Missoula, Montana. "MODIS Land Team (MODLAND) Algorithm Development for Boreal Forests: Participation in BOREAS." Ryan, Michael G. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. "Autotrophic Respiration in Boreal Ecosystems." Saatchi, Sasan S. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. "Estimation of Hydrological Parameters in Boreal Forest Using SAR Data." Saugier, Bernard. Laboratoire d'Ecologie Vegetale, Universite Paris-Sud, Orsay Cedex, France. "Long Term Monitoring of Trees Photosynthesis and Transpiration from Sap Flow Measurement Coupled with Estimates of Water Use Efficiency." Schuepp, Peter H. McGill University, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec. "Analysis and Interpretation of Airborne Flux Observations over the BOREAS Sites." - 5 - Shugart, Herman H. University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. "Multidiscipline Integrative Models of Forest Ecosystem Dynamics for the Boreal Forest Biome." Soulis, Rick. Waterloo University, Waterloo, Ontario, Dennis P. Lettenmaier, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, Engman, Edwin T. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, and Danny Marks, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon. "From Micro-Scale to Meso- Scale: Snowmelt, Soil Moisture and Evapotranspiration from Distributed Hydrological Models." Strome, W. Murray. Petawawa National Forestry Institute, Chalk River, Ontario. "High Spatial and Spectral Resolution Image Analysis Techniques for Ecological and Biophysical Data (HIGH SPIRITED) at Forestry Canada." Trumbore, Susan. University of California, Irvine, California. "Input, Accumulation and Turnover of Carbon in Boreal Forest Soils: Integrating 14C Isotopic Analyses with Ecosystem Dynamics." Vanderbilt, Vern. NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California. "Estimation of Photosynthetic Capacity Using POLDER Polarization." Verma, Shashi B. University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska. "Field Micrometeorological Measurements, Process-Level Studies, and Modeling of Methane and Carbon Dioxide Fluxes in a Boreal Wetland Ecosystem." Verseghy, Diana. Canadian Climate Centre, Environment Canada, Downsview, Ontario. "Improvement of Boreal Forest Modeling in the CCC GCM." Wahlen, Martin. Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, California. "Isotopic Composition of Methane Produced and Consumed in Boreal Ecosystems." Waite, D. T. Environment Canada, Regina, Saskatchewan. "Atmospheric Transport of Agricultural Pesticides into the Boreal Forest." Walter-Shea, Elizabeth A. University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska. "Radiation and Gas Exchange of Canopy Elements in a Boreal Forest." Walthall, Charles L. University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland. "Biophysical Significance of Spectral Vegetation Indices in the Boreal Forest." Wang, James R. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. "Microwave Radiometric Measurements of Snow Cover, Vegetation, Soil Moisture and Atmospheric Water Vapor Profiles for BOREAS." - 6 - Way, JoBea. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. "Monitoring Environmental and Phenologic State and Duration of State with SAR as Input to Improved CO2 Flux Models." Westberg, Halvor H. Washington State University, Pullman, Washington. "Measurement of Biogenic Hydrocarbon Fluxes and Surface Exchange Processes in a Boreal Forest." Williams, Darrel L. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. "Modeling and Remote Sensing of Radiant Energy Interactions and Physiological Functioning in a Boreal Ecosystem." Wofsy, Steven C. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. "Eddy Correlation Flux Measurements of CO2, O3, and NOy for BOREAS." Wrigley, Robert C. NASA/Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California. "Aerosol Determinations and Atmospheric Correction for BOREAS Imagery." Zepp, Richard. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Research Laboratory, Athens, Georgia. "Trace Gas Exchange in the Boreal Forest Biome: Effects of Fire and Beaver Activity." Zimmerman, Patrick. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado. "Ground-Based Measurement of Carbon Trace Gases in Relation to Ecological Gradients in the Boreal Forest."