Epscor research fellows: @NASA: calibrating nisar to in situ soli & live fuel moisture sensors for wildfire risk

The National Science Foundation Office of Integrative Activities awarded the University of New Mexico $300,000 on January 1, 2027, through the Integrative Activities program (CFDA 47.083) to support a Research Infrastructure Improvement EPSCOR Research Fellows fellowship for developing and validating methods to calibrate NASA's NISAR synthetic aperture radar satellite against in situ soil moisture and live fuel moisture content measurements.

The recipient will deploy networks of wireless sensors across five high-fire-risk sites in New Mexico to collect co-located live fuel moisture, dead fuel, soil moisture, and micrometeorological data transmitting via LoRaWAN. These ground observations will calibrate and validate L-band and S-band NISAR backscatter measurements in semi-arid conifer ecosystems, grounding the calibration framework in dielectric properties shared by impedance-based plant sensors and spaceborne radar rather than site-specific empirical regressions. The work will deliver the first systematic NISAR validation across topographically complex, mixed-cover landscapes in New Mexico. Data and methods will be publicly shared to support fire managers in issuing earlier and more accurate fire risk warnings, planning prescribed burns, and protecting drinking water watersheds serving New Mexico communities.

The fellowship funds a Research Assistant Professor position at the University of New Mexico's Albuquerque campus and is conducted in collaboration with Dr. Erika Podest at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems Group. The period of performance runs from January 1, 2027, through December 31, 2028. The work integrates ecology, satellite remote sensing, and sensor engineering.

Abstract

This research infrastructure improvement (RII) epscor research fellows project provides a fellowship to a research assistant professor at the university of new mexico. This work is conducted in collaboration with DR. Erika podest at the carbon cycle and ecosystems group at NASA's jet propulsion laboratory. Through the fellowship, the PI will develop better ways to measure how much water is held in forest soils and in living plants across new mexico. These two measurements largely determine where wildfire can start and how quickly IT will spread, yet they are rarely measured directly. The project draws on ecology, satellite remote sensing, and sensor engineering. The PI will install networks of small wireless sensors at five high fire-risk sites and use the readings to check and improve measurements collected from space by the NASA?isro synthetic aperture radar (nisar) satellite. Improved measurements will help fire managers issue earlier and more accurate fire risk warnings, plan prescribed burns, and protect watersheds that supply drinking water to new mexico communities. All data and methods will be shared publicly. This project will develop and validate a physics-based framework for calibrating nisar l-band and s-band backscatter in situ soil moisture and live fuel moisture content (lfmc) across semi-arid conifer ecosystems. Its intellectual contribution is to ground calibration in the dielectric properties shared by impedance-based plant sensors and spaceborne radar, rather than in site-specific empirical regressions, and to deliver the first systematic nisar validation in topographically complex, mixed-cover landscapes. CO-located lfmc, dead fuel, soil moisture, and micrometeorological sensors will be deployed across five sites and will transmit continuously via the long-range wide area network (lorawan). Corrected nisar acquisitions will be temporally matched to sensor observations, terrain covariates derived from 1 m elevation data will be incorporated, and candidate retrieval models will be evaluated by split-sample validation. The fellowship will establish synthetic aperture radar expertise at the university of new mexico, where IT is currently absent, train the PI through extended residencies at JPL, and extend an existing statewide sensor network that will remain operational beyond the award period. This project is supported by the epscor research infrastructure improvement program: epscor research fellows (ERF), which supports early- and mid-career investigators in eligible jurisdictions to develop collaborations at the nation?s private, government or academic research institutions. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.