From local measurements to global understanding of the carbon and water cycle

We will offer insights into our research about the carbon and water cycles of ecosystems. Flux tower stations around the world, in a wide variety of locations from the Arctic to the tropics, provide measurement data on the exchange of carbon dioxide and water between ecosystems. But how can we learn about the carbon and water cycles of the entire biosphere from these individual stations?  With satellite data and artificial intelligence! Satellites are observing the entire planet providing valuable information about the state of ecosystems, some every hour, some every day, some every week, and over many years, even decades. We feed artificial intelligence with the time series of satellite data for the locations of the flux tower stations, along with station measurements of ecosystem carbon and water exchanges. The algorithm learns from the data and builds a model that can use the satellite data to calculate how much water and carbon dioxide the ecosystems are taking in from or releasing to the atmosphere. Using a large computer and advanced information processing technology, we apply the model to the global satellite data and get estimates of how much water and carbon dioxide ecosystems around the world exchange with the atmosphere. 

Visit our booth and talk to our scientists and watch some animations of our results!