WaterSCAPES: Science of Coupled Aquatic Processes in Ecosystems from Space

Principal Investigator: Dr. Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm

WaterSCAPES: Science of Coupled Aquatic Processes in Ecosystems from Space is a proposed NASA Group 4 University Research Center (URC) based at Florida International University under a FY2008 Cooperative Agreement Notice. This URC focuses on an integrated set of research and education activities centered on the coupled interaction between the hydrologic cycle and vegetation dynamics at the scale of ecosystems, analyzing the spatial and temporal changes of this interaction and determining the influence of these changes on water cycling, vegetation structure, biomass dynamics and biodiversity. The focus of WaterSCAPES is motivated by NASA's Science Mission Directorate fundamental question: How is the Earth changing and what are the consequences for life on Earth?, and specifically seeks to address the stocks and fluxes of water, nutrients and vegetative biomass through a quantitative approach that combines remote sensing observations (radar and optical), mathematical modeling of ecohydrologic processes and field ecophysiological experiments. The proposed work will be performed on two wetland ecosystems: the Everglades of South Florida and the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico.

The primary impacts of the proposed project will be:

• quantification of biogeochemical stocks and fluxes in vegetative ecosystems in response to environmental forcings (climate change, disturbances) as key to sustainable management of vegetative ecosystems
• gain expertise in the vast wealth of new data from NASA's EOS and in-house satellites in interdisciplinary research on interactions and feedbacks between hydrology and vegetation
• training a new generation of global ecosystem change scientists who will acquire strong interdisciplinary science skills applicable to ecosystem change assessment and mitigation. Being in Miami, FIU is already engaged with one of the largest underrepresented student populations in STEM fields in the US, so diversity in science and engineering in our country will be highly favored by this URC .