A thorough understanding of thermal soil regimes is critical information for a wide variety of disciplines and engineering applications as well as for the evaluation of potential and limitations of thermal and optical sensors. In this study we have developed a procedure for the evaluation of global thermal soil regimes. First, pedotransfer functions are used to derive thermal soil properties (v...

Variation in the structure of ground fuels, i.e. the moss and litter (M/L) layer, may be an important control on fire severity in heather moorlands and thus influence vegetation regeneration and soil carbon dynamics. We completed experimental fires in a Calluna vulgaris-dominated heathland to study the role of the M/L layer in determining (i) fire-induced temperature pulses into the soil and (i...

In regions affected by seasonal and permanently frozen conditions soil moisture influences the thermal regime of the ground as well as its ice content, which is one of the main factors controlling the sensitivity of mountain permafrost to climate changes. In this study, several well established soil moisture monitoring techniques were combined with data from geophysical measurements to assess t...

Agricultural aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are easily scheduled and accessible remote sensing platforms. Canopy temperature data for crop stress analysis were obtained with an Electrophysics PV-320T thermal imaging camera mounted in agricultural aircraft. Weather data and soil water potential were monitored and thermal images were analyzed for canopy temperature trends accounting...

Species in which ambient temperatures directly determine offspring sex may be at particular risk as global climates change. Whether or not climate change affects sex ratio depends upon the effectiveness of buffering mechanisms that link ambient regimes to actual nest temperatures. For example, females may simply lay nests earlier in the season, or in more shaded areas, such that incubation ther...

The temperature and moisture regimes in a forest are key components in the forest ecosystem dynamics. Observations and studies indicate that the internal temperature distribution and moisture content of the tree influence not only growth and development, but onset and cessation of cambial activity[1], resistance to insect predation[2], and even affect the population dynamics of the insects[3]. ...

We examined the effects of fire disturbance on permafrost degradation and thaw settlement across a series of wildfires (from ~1930 to 2010) in the forested areas of collapse-scar bog complexes in the Tanana Flats lowland of interior Alaska. Field measurements were combined with numerical modeling of soil thermal dynamics to assess the roles of fire severity and climate history in postfire perma...