WALD-Puls

In order to better and quicker assess the effects of multiple and combined stress factors on the functioning of forest ecosystems and the associated ecosystem services, new approaches in digital forest monitoring are needed.This includes the processing and digital provision of spatially and temporally highly resolved data on growth performance, stress and disturbances in forests.

The joint project WALD-Puls combines the core competence of the University of Greifswald (AG Landscape Ecology & Ecosystem Dynamics) in the field of high-resolution forest monitoring on a single-tree basis with the expertise of the TU-Munich (Chair of Land Surface-Atmosphere Interactions) in the field of remotely sensed forest condition monitoring.

In WALD-Puls, existing model projects and permanent observation plots of the LTER-D network, the TERENO initiative of the Helmholtz Association and the plots of the Landesexzellenzprogramm MV (Wetscapes) are to be networked and expanded at the level of a federal state. In the emerging pilot area M-V, an online real-time monitoring of growth parameters (including fine root development) of typical forest communities and sustainable tree species will be established for the scientific analysis of climate change effects on forest ecosystems. In combination with temporally high-resolution satellite data of photosynthetic performance (NDVI of the MODIS mission, realized on http://waldzustandsmonitor.de/ and Sentinel2), a novel, continuously updated risk index of forest condition is developed on the basis of these high-resolution growth data. WALD-Puls creates an algorithm for blending remotely sensed and tree-based monitoring data and provides a web-based visualization already during the project lifetime that uses this risk index while allowing its iterative adaptation and improvement.

The result should be a transferable monitoring concept for a novel, daily updated assessment of the climatically induced risk for forests, which can serve as a model for other federal states: WALD pulse monitoring: from root to crown, from individual tree to stand, from stand to forest ecosystem, from satellite image to forest condition - continuously updated and available online.