Environmental network

environmental scientists have received a five-year, $1.88 million grant from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop an advanced wireless sensor network that can measure, model and predict biophysical changes in the forest environment.

The network will help researchers better understand how the growth, survival and reproduction of forest trees are influenced by changes in climate, atmospheric carbon dioxide and other environmental variables that can fluctuate rapidly. Such changes are expected with the ongoing alteration in global climate as increasing carbon dioxide levels from burning fossil fuels cause global warming.

“This network will allow us to go into remote locations, install the sensors, and, for years to come, collect a depth and breadth of data that would be virtually impossible to obtain through any other means,” said James S. Clark, who is H.L. Blomquist Professor of Biology at the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences.

A key function of the proposed network will be its ability to automatically regulate its own performance and, when necessary, adjust how and when data are collected. The network system will be able to assimilate large amounts of data in real time, rapidly assess the value and cost of collecting the data, and then automatically schedule future data measurement accordingly, Clark explained.