Supporting targets of opportunity in ecological research: case of the High Park Fire, 2012 Tom Kampe, Nathan Leisso, Keith Krause National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON, Inc.), Boulder, CO ESA 2013 Annual Meeting

Outline The NEON Observatory NEON Assignable Assets Airborne Observation Platform Wildfires in the Western United States High Park Fire 2012 NEON Response to the High Park Fire Path Forward

The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) What is NEON? The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) NEON is a continental-scale research platform being developed to enable understanding and forecasting the impacts of climate change, land-use change, and invasive species on continental-scale ecology by providing infrastructure to support research, education and environmental management in these areas The NEON Project is the observatory funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) NEON Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation that is currently led and funded by the NSF to plan, design, build and operate NEON Currently in Construction phase

NEON Rapid Response NEON Assignable assets include all resources that can be requested by researchers and that, when assigned, normally preclude use (for a time) by others: Relocatable Sites Airborne Observation Platform (AOP) Mobile Deployment Platform (MDP) Addition of Sensors/Instruments Calibration/Validation laboratory(Cal/Val) Biological Sampling Process under development for external use of NEON Assignable Assets Approach: Develop general and asset-specific guidelines and screening criteria for evaluation of requests using a dual track NSF: Evaluates scientific merit, sets priorities and reviews/approves recommendations NEON: Evaluates feasibility – technical, logistical, financial

Wildfire Incidence in Western United States The western United States has experienced an unprecedented period of wildfires in the last two decades (Morgan et al. 2008), and summer 2012 saw large fires in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Montana, and Wyoming While fire occurrence and area burned are clearly linked to broad-scale drought and earlier snow melt (Westerling et al. 2006), spatially complex forest fuel conditions resulting from decades of fire suppression and unprecedented recent bark beetle outbreaks in the region (Bentz et al. 2009) These are likely influencing patterns of fire spread, severity, and post-fire forest development trajectories at fine to intermediate spatial scales (1-1,000 m) Bentz, B., J. Logan, J. MacMahon, C. Allen, et al. 2009. Bark beetle outbreaks in Western North America: Causes and consequences. Chicago, IL: University of Utah Press. 42 p. Morgan, P., E. K. Heyerdahl, and C. Gibson, “Multi-season climate synchronized forest fires throughout the 20th century, Northern Rockies, USA, Ecology, 89(3), 2008, pp. 717-728. Westerling, A. L., H. G. Hidalgo, D. R. Cayan, and T. W. Swetnam. 2006. Warming and earlier spring increase western U.S. forest wildfire activity. Science 313:940–943.

High Park Fire, Colorado Third largest fire in Colorado history Occurred in the mountains west of Fort Collins in Larimer County, Colorado, USA. Caused by a lightning strike and was first detected on the morning of June 9, 2012 Burnt over 87,284 acres (136.381 sq mi; 353.23 km2) of public & private lands Destroyed at least 259 homes The burned area drains directly into the Cache la Poudre River, a critical water source for northern Colorado communities Fighting the fire cost over $31.5 million Urgent response needed in response to rapid change on ground due to summer rains initiating post-fire erosion and sedimentation; management activities alter landscape characteristics, and vegetation will begin to regenerate

AOP High Park Response Primary Science Questions: What is the state of the landscape at the conclusion of the High Park Fire, both within the fire’s final boundary and in reference areas outside the fire? How did conditions prior to the fire affect fire behavior and impacts? How does fire severity and pattern affect post-fire trajectories? Large variety in burn severity – tied to beetle kill? Are different plant species affected differently What is the impact of beetle kill? What is the effect of erosion of landscape? Combined Spectroscopic/LiDAR survey of entire burn scar NEON awarded a NSF RAPIDS proposal to survey the entire burn scar area in 2012 Follow-on grant awarded to re-fly burn scar for 3 additional years (2013 – 2015) Collaboration with Scientists from Colorado State University Ecological, geomorphic, hydrological and fire science field measurements

The NEON Airborne Observation Platform De Havilland DHC-6-300 twin turbo prop Twin Otter aircraft Science Crew: 2 NEON personnel for sensor flight operations Typical Flight Parameters Altitude: 1000 m AGL Airspeed: 90 – 100 knots Ground sampling distance: 1 meter Remote Sensing Payload Waveform-LiDAR NEON VSWIR Imaging Spectrometer 34 deg x-track FOV 380-2500 nm 6 nm FWHM Airborne digital camera GPS/Inertial measurement unit Scientific staff conducting ground measurements (field spectrometers, sun photometers, etc) and producing science data products

Baseline Flight Operations 7-months, 1,100 flight hrs flight season Ship payload to Hawaii Preseason calibration flight

NEON Response to the High Park Fire AOP deployed out of Rocky Mountain Municipal Airport, Broomfield, CO Full imaging spectrometer, digital camera, and LiDAR set acquired Over 100 sq. miles flown each year Nominal Flight Altitude: 1000 m AGL 90+ flight lines Total of 22 Flight Hours flown in 2013

AOP Data – Discrete Lidar

AOP Data – Imaging Spectrometer

Field Spectra

Path Forward NEON will survey the High Park burn scar annually the next two years Produce a multi-year airborne field and remote sensing dataset Develop an integrated understanding of post-fire vegetation recovery as it relates to erosion and deposition across the fire landscape Study the biological and physical responses to an extreme fire event Data will become available by end of year NEON web site (http://www.neoninc.org/) Rapid response capability demonstrated Process for researchers to proposes to use NEON Assignable Assets currently under development More information at tomorrow’s poster session OPS 2-15 Assessment of the high park fire burn scar using the NEON Airborne Observatory Platform

© 2013 National Ecological Observatory Network, Inc © 2013 National Ecological Observatory Network, Inc. All rights reserved. The National Ecological Observatory Network is a project sponsored by the National Science Foundation and managed under cooperative agreement by NEON, Inc. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under the following grants: EF-1029808, EF-1138160, EF-1150319 and DBI-0752017. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Outline 15 minute presentation – 8 slides max. Be aware of your designated talk time. Organized oral presentations are scheduled for 20 minute timeslots. 15 minutes are allotted for each presentation plus 5 minutes for questions. Time limits will be strictly enforced by the session moderator, who will warn each speaker when they are approaching their time limit. Title: Supporting targets of opportunity in ecological research: case of the High Park Fire, 2012 Short overview of the High Park fire Extent of the fire & timing -> size, cost, largest fire, etc. Importance to Colorado (water source to Fort Collins and Greely, etc.) Importance of understanding drivers for Wildfire Increased incidence of wildfires in western U.S. Prevalence of pine beetle infestation Human encroachment on forests, etc. Short overview of AOP in context of NEON The NEON Mission (one slide) AOP role – scaling & what measurements being made with remote sensing platform High Park Study Scientific Goals What measurements being made Who are the participants AOP’s role Flight lines Sample data images Future activities