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COURSE INFO PROVIDER: SWSPCP Webinar
COURSE TITLE: Peatland Mapping from boreal to tropical zone in Americas

INSTRUCTORS Laura L. Bourgeau-Chavez, Ph.D.

COURSE DESCRIPTION Peatland Mapping from boreal to tropical zone in Americas
Laura L. Bourgeau-Chavez, Ph.D.
November 18, 2021

Abstract:

The webinar will be focused on research to
map and monitor peatlands on the ground and
from space to improve our understanding of
peatland diversity, C-stores, vulnerability of
these systems to land use change and Climate
as well as emissions from fires and fire effects
(in the boreal zone). The webinar will include
description of techniques for peatland mapping
from the boreal to tropical zone using multidate
imaging radar and optical-IR imagery in a
machine learning classifier. Similar
techniques and input imagery are used for
boreal fens and bogs, tropical lowland pole
forests and open fens as well as mountain
cushion fens in tropical Andes with high
accuracy. These often-small systems can be
missed with coarse resolution sensors, such
as MODIS, and they are often grouped with
another wetland type or missed altogether in
global mapping projects. These techniques
allow discrimination between peatland types to
allow further analyses of vulnerabilities of a
specific ecosystem type to climate and
anthropogenic change. Background
information on peatlands and effects of human
land use development in the tropics and
effects of increasing wildfire in the boreal zone
will be covered. Mapping of burn severity in
boreal peatlands, and other products based on
Landsat and MODIS will be introduced as
useful for detecting change in the peatlands
and intersecting with the peatland maps to
assess change.

Dr. Bourgeau-ChavezÃ¢ï¿½ï¿½s Bio:

Dr. Laura Bourgeau-Chavez is a senior
research scientist at Michigan Tech Research
Institute and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in
the College of Forest Resources and
Environmental Science (SFRES) of Michigan
Technological University. She has a BS and
MS from University of Michigan, School of
Natural Resources and Environment as well
as a PhD from University of New Brunswick,
School of Forestry and Environmental
Management. Her main interests are in using
active microwave radar imaging with optical
and lidar data for extracting moisture,
inundation and biophysical information from
wetland and upland landscapes. Her research
includes targeted field campaigns to calibrate
and validate remotely sensed data and to
better understand ecosystem function, Carbon
storage/flux and disturbance effects in
peatland and upland systems. Her research
has been focused on understanding the
effects of land use, wildfire disturbance and/or
climate change on ecosystems in North
American boreal-taiga regions, tropical
lowland and mountain peatlands and the
coastal Great Lakes. Her work has led to
integration of microwave, lidar and optical
sensing for mapping and monitoring
wetlands/peatlands, forest soil moisture, forest
biomass, invasive species, and effects of land
development and wildfire effects.

Credit Points: 0.06

SYLLABUS/TOPICAL OUTLINE 1) Introduction: Remote sensing for mapping and monitoring peatlands (9 min.). 2) Techniques for peatland mapping using imaging radar and optical-IR imagery (9 min.). 3) Comparison with mapping techniques of coarser resolution (9 min.) 4) Using remote sensing for gathering data related to land use and disturbance (9 min.) 5) Combinations of traditional (coarser) remote sensing with current peatland mapping methods (9 min.) 6) Questions and Answers (15 min.)

COURSE CONTACT

Louis Mantini
9225 CR49, Live Oak, FL 32060
lfm@srwmd.org
P: 13866974891
F:

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