.c.Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada

BOREAS Project
Craig Dobson, Jon Ranson, Roger Lang, JoBea Way
Kyle McDonald, and Sasan Saatchi

  Prince Albert and Nelson House, Manitoba are the two test
sites chosen for the Boreal Ecosystem - Atmosphere Study
(BOREAS).  The goal of BOREAS is to obtain an improved understanding
of the interactions between the boreal forest biome and the
atmosphere in order to clarify their roles in global change.
 Specific objectives are:  1) To improve our understanding
of the processes which govern the exchanges of energy, water,
heat, carbon, and trace gases between boreal ecosystems and
the atmosphere, with particular reference to those that may
be sensitive to global change; and 2) to develop and validate
remote sensing algorithms for transferring our understanding
of the above processes from local to regional scales.
 In particular, BOREAS will address three major scientific
issues:  1) The biogeochemical functioning of the boreal
forest, including controls on carbon storage and partitioning
and the seasonal and spatial variability of trace gas fluxes;
2) the sensitivity of the boreal forest biome to changes
in the physical climate system; and 3) the biophysical feedbacks
to the climate system due to ecological changes in the functioning
of the biome.