NASA Postdoctoral Program Opportunities

Mapping recovery of vegetation from wildfires in Alaska under a changing climate

Opportunity ID	19301
Opportunity URL	https://npp.usra.edu/opportunities/details/?ro=19301
Location	Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA 94035
Field of Science	Earth Science
Advisor	Christopher Potter 650-604-6164 chris.potter@nasa.gov
Citizenship Requirement	U.S. Citizens Accepted Lawful Permanent Residents Accepted Foreign Nationals Accepted - Applications with citizens from Designated Countries will not be accepted at this time, unless they are Legal Permanent Residents of the United States. A complete list of Designated Countries can be found at: https://www.nasa.gov/oiir/export-control.
Description	The area of forest burned in Alaska has increased greatly over the last several decades. High severity fires have been attributed to new climate warming trends. These high-latitude wildfires have numerous impacts on the regional environment, including greenhouse gas fluxes, aerosol emissions, black carbon deposition on snow and sea-ice, and changes in land surface albedo. The objective of this study will be to understand the changes over time in plant species composition and vegetation phenology for several wildfire areas that have burned in Alaska during recent summer seasons. Field surveys in Alaska will be combined with new (2017-2019) hyperspectral imaging flights conducted under the NASA Terrestrial Ecology study program. The applicant will be required to carry out field work in burned areas near Fairbanks AK over several weeks in the summer season. Experience in image processing software is desirable.

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