How can we effectively monitor the world’s tree resources down to the level of individual trees?
Rasmus Fensholt and a team of colleagues will attempt to answer this question. They have received a grant from the Danish National Research Foundation to establish an important new research centre at IGN. Rasmus Fensholt will lead the Center for Remote Sensing and Deep Learning of Global Tree Resources (TreeSense).
TreeSense focuses on the critical role of trees in terrestrial ecosystems, such as climate regulation, biodiversity support and local livelihoods. Both climate change and human management have drastically altered tree cover and species composition globally, but current methods for tracking these changes are limited by low-resolution satellite data and outdated techniques.
The research centre aims to revolutionize global tree monitoring using advanced nano-satellite technology and next-generation deep learning (DL) methods within AI. This approach will enable detailed assessment of global tree dynamics, including key functional and structural properties such as important species, the use of trees, tree horizontal and vertical structure, carbon stocks and carbon sequestration rates.
This research paves the road towards addressing science questions on major unknowns within global change research. Here the centre will break new grounds on how global warming and increased climatic extreme events affect tree physiology and growth patterns at species level and we will quantify the extent and dynamics of anthropogenic forest disturbance and degradation.
Ultimately, this research enables us to uncover the potentials for various forest and tree-related production systems and human livelihoods as means of climate mitigation actions while improving our understanding of the importance of woody resources for sustainable food systems.
The TreeSense Research Center will begin in the spring of 2025. The grant amounts to 59,909,600 DKK. A big congratulations to Rasmus Fensholt and the team, which also includes colleagues from DIKU at SCIENCE, and thanks to the Danish National Research Foundation for supporting the project.