Proximal Remote Sensing: An Essential Tool for Bridging the Gap Between High-resolution Ecosystem Monitoring and Global Ecology

Authors

Zoe Amie Pierrat, California Institute of Technology
Troy S. Magney, University of California, Davis
Will P. Richardson, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Benjamin R. K. Runkle, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Jen L. Diehl, Northern Arizona University
Xi Yang, University of Virginia
William Woodgate, The University of Queensland
William K. Smith, University of Arizona
Miriam R. Johnston, University of Iowa
Yohanes R. S. Ginting, University of Bonn
Gerbrand Koren, Utrecht University
Loren P. Albert, Oregon State University
Christopher L. Kibler, University of California, Santa Barbara
Bryn E. Morgan, University of California, Santa Barbara
Mallory Barnes, Indiana University
Adriana Uscanga, Michigan State University
Charles Devine, University of Arizona
Mostafa Javadian, Northern Arizona University
Karem Meza, Utah State University
Tommaso Julitta, JB Hyperspectral Devices
Giulia Tagliabue, University of Milano
Matthew P. Dannenburg, University of Bonn
Michal Antala, Poznan University of Life Sciences
Christopher Y. S. Wong, University of New Brunswick
Andre L. D. Santos, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Koen Hufkens, University of Bern
Julia K. Marrs, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Atticus E. L. Stovall, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Yujie Liu, Northern Arizona University
Joshua B. Fisher, Chapman UniversityFollow
John A. Gamon, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Kerry Cawse-Nicholson, California Institute of Technology

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-23-2025

Abstract

A new proliferation of optical instruments that can be attached to towers over or within ecosystems, or ‘proximal’ remote sensing, enables a comprehensive characterization of terrestrial ecosystem structure, function, and fluxes of energy, water, and carbon. Proximal remote sensing can bridge the gap between individual plants, site-level eddy-covariance fluxes, and airborne and spaceborne remote sensing by providing continuous data at a high-spatiotemporal resolution. Here, we review recent advances in proximal remote sensing for improving our mechanistic understanding of plant and ecosystem processes, model development, and validation of current and upcoming satellite missions. We provide current best practices for data availability and metadata for proximal remote sensing: spectral reflectance, solar-induced fluorescence, thermal infrared radiation, microwave backscatter, and LiDAR. Our paper outlines the steps necessary for making these data streams more widespread, accessible, interoperable, and information-rich, enabling us to address key ecological questions unanswerable from space-based observations alone and, ultimately, to demonstrate the feasibility of these technologies to address critical questions in local and global ecology.

Comments

This article was originally published in New Phytologist in 2025. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.20405

Recommended Citation

Pierrat, Z.A., Magney, T.S., Richardson, W.P., Runkle, B.R.K., Diehl, J.L., Yang, X., Woodgate, W., Smith, W.K., Johnston, M.R., Ginting, Y.R.S., Koren, G., Albert, L.P., Kibler, C.L., Morgan, B.E., Barnes, M., Uscanga, A., Devine, C., Javadian, M., Meza, K., Julitta, T., Tagliabue, G., Dannenberg, M.P., Antala, M., Wong, C.Y.S., Santos, A.L.D., Hufkens, K., Marrs, J.K., Stovall, A.E.L., Liu, Y., Fisher, J.B., Gamon, J.A. and Cawse-Nicholson, K. (2025), Proximal remote sensing: an essential tool for bridging the gap between high-resolution ecosystem monitoring and global ecology. New Phytol. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.20405

Copyright

The authors

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.