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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #94555
Title: JORNEX: A REMOTE SENSING EXPERIMENT TO QUANTIFY LONG-TERM VEGETATION CHANGE AND HYDROLOGICAL FLUXES IN AN ARID RANGELAND ENVIRONMENT

Author
item Rango, Albert
item Ritchie, Jerry
item Kustas, William - Bill
item Schmugge, Thomas
item Havstad, Kris

Submitted to: Proceedings of International Conference on Hydrology in a Changing Environment
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/30/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: None.

Technical Abstract: The Jornada Experimental Range (783 km2) in the Chihuahuan Desert of southern New Mexico provides a unique opportunity to integrate hydrological and atmospheric fluxes and surface states, vegetation types, cover, and distribution, and vegetation response to changes in hydrological states and atmospheric driving forces. The Jornada Range is the site of a long-term ecological research program to investigate the processes leading to desertification. In concert with ongoing ground measurements (some which extend back to 1912), remotely sensed data are being collected from ground, airborne, and satellite platforms during JORNEX (the JORNada EXperiment) to provide spatial and temporal distribution of vegetation state using laser altimeter and multispectral aircraft and satellite data and surface energy balance estimates from a combination of parameters and state variables derived from remotely sensed data. These measurements are being used as inputs to models to quantify the hydrological budget and the plant response to changes in components in the water and energy balance. An airborne platform is being used to collect thermal, mutlispectral, 3-band video, and laser altimetry profile data. Ground and aircraft measurements are acquired during Landsat overpasses so the effect of scale on measurements can be studied.