This two-year, $188,177 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) will fund the development of new techniques for mapping and monitoring plant drought stress using repeat hyperspectral data. The University of California, Santa Barbara will link detailed measurements of plant drought stress, water use, and water sources to remotely sensed data on plant water content. This will identify areas of drought resilience and vulnerability during an ongoing drought. The grantee will develop methods to remotely monitor drought stress globally using upcoming satellite missions. The research aims to understand spatial variation in drought stress at unprecedented scales. Physiological measurements on oak trees will be linked to airborne hyperspectral imagery coinciding with the drought to analyze topographic and edaphic controls on plant water stress. The grant also supports training students and new field courses.
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