Hemlock Tree Tertiary Branch Measurement During the Forest Ecosystem Dynamics - Multisensor Aircraft Campaign

Forest Ecosystem Dynamics Multisensor Airborne Campaign (FED MAC): Hemlock Tree Tertiary Branch Data The Biospheric Sciences Branch (formerly Earth Resources Branch) within the Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and associated University investigators are involved in a research program entitled Forest Ecosystem Dynamics (FED) which is fundamentally concerned with vegetation change of forest ecosystems at local to regional spatial scales (100 to 10,000 meters) and temporal scales ranging from monthly to decadal periods (10 to 100 years).

The nature and extent of the impacts of these changes, as well as the feedbacks to global climate, may be addressed through modeling the interactions of the vegetation, soil, and energy components of the boreal ecosystem. A tree was felled by using a skidder and a tractor combination. This arrangement of vehicles was used to lower the tree slowly, keeping the crown of the tree intact.