Research team

The Flanders Forest Living Lab: a semi-automated observatory for multi-scale forest ecological functioning. 01/06/2022 - 31/05/2026

Abstract

The European Green Deal relies on healthy forests to remove carbon (C) from the atmosphere, stabilize the water cycle and provide sufficient biomass for the future bioeconomy. The Flanders Forest Living lab realizes a specific breakthrough in the assessment of these crucial ecosystem functions, at spatial scales ranging from the individual tree to the entire forest. The Living Lab is situated in an ICOS flux-tower observatory, that currently already provides a permanent assessment of ecosystem scale CO2-fluxes, evapotranspiration and respiration. To date however, no technique is available to study the function of individual trees, at daily resolution, across a forest. achieving this is the groundbreaking objective of this new infrastructure. Its specific equipment allows for crucial realistic simulation of the water-, energy- and carbon fluxes by advanced vegetation models at spatial scales matching those of satellite imagery products, thereby creating new possibilities for applications such as automated precision forestry management, fire prevention and worldwide carbon budget quantifications. The new infrastructure involves an UAV and a set of linked validation sensors. Observations are steered by artificial intelligence, in order to be able to adapt the flight pattern to the fluctuating source area of the flux-tower, and in order to proactively adapt to specific weather patterns and potentially interesting ground-sensor observations.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

  • Research Project

Modelling of biogeochemische CO ² in carbonate floors model. 01/01/2010 - 31/12/2011

Abstract

This project represents a research agreement between the UA and on the onther hand IWT. UA provides IWT research results mentioned in the title of the project under the conditions as stipulated in this contract.

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

  • Research Project

Modelling of biogeochemische CO ² in carbonate floors model. 01/01/2008 - 31/12/2009

Abstract

Researcher(s)

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

  • Research Project