NASA Land Cover and Land Use Program

LCLUC 2017 FALL Synthesis Studies Webinar Series

Thursday November 2, 2017 
 2:00-3:00 PM EST
Speakers

Yale University




Synthesis of LCLUC Studies on Urbanization: State of the Art, Gaps in Knowledge, and New Directions for Remote Sensing Science

This synthesis project aims to formulate an assessment of the patterns, drivers, and outcomes of global urban LCLUC from 1972 to 2014 by synthesizing existing remote sensing research and published studies from around the world. We aim to assess how the myriad urban remote sensing studies contribute to advancing fundamental and theoretical knowledge of urbanization, sustainability, and the functioning of the Earth system. This synthesis project will examine five key research questions. Question 1. What are the existing and available remotely sensed datasets and analyses on urban LCLUC? Question 2. What are the available change detection algorithms to characterize urban LCLUC and can we develop best practices to guide which change detection algorithms to apply across different geographies, conditions, and applications? Question 3. What are spatial patterns of urban LCLUC and how do they vary across place, time, and economic development levels? Question 4. What are the socioeconomic and policy drivers of urban LCLUC across different world regions, stages of economic development, and land use histories? Question 5. What are the effects of urban LCLUC on other land uses and land covers?



Michigan State University

Urbanization and Sustainability Under Global Change and Transitional Economies:Synthesis from Southeast, East and North Asia (SENA)

The project aims at synthesizing the data and knowledge on urban sustainability to the socioeconomic transformation and changing climate in transitional economies in SENA. We propose four specific hypotheses to link key socioeconomic and biophysical drivers, especially institutional mechanism unique in transitional economies and global climate change, for the spatiotemporal changes of urbanization and urban sustainability in these countries. We will perform three tasks: Data Integration: We will construct a comprehensive database of LCLUC, socioeconomics, and environmental variables for the 17 cities at multiple spatial and temporal scales from a variety of sources. Data gaps will be identified and a limited effort will be made to collect ground, RS, socioeconomic, and environmental data that are missing, but are critical for Tasks 2 and 3. Knowledge Synthesis: We will first construct quantitative indices for spatial, human, and natural systems of 17 cities. We will perform statistical and modeling analyses to quantify the interactions and feedbacks, thus answering our research questions and to test the hypotheses based on integrated the database, thus generating new knowledge of the co-evolution of LCLUCs, human systems, and natural systems for the urban environments in transitional economies. Forecast Synthesis: We will model and predict the changes of the urban LCLUC, human, and natural systems beyond 2016 with sound scenarios of climate and land cover changes, populations, economic growth, and possible planning and policies.

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