Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory

Scientists studying impacts of High Park Fire

Dr. Michael Lefsky

Supported by a National Science Foundation RAPID grant, the project is integrating airborne remote sensing data collected by NEON’s Airborne Observation Platform (AOP) with ground-based data from a targeted field campaign conducted by CSU researchers. This is the first time a comprehensive airborne remote sensing system of this caliber has been used to enhance research on wildfire causes and impacts. The system detected remaining vegetation, identified plant species, ash cover, soil properties and other details to help illustrate how the fire burned – over the span of the entire fire scar.

CSU’s research team for the project is comprised of 11 scientists across multiple disciplines and is led by project principal investigator Michael Lefsky, associate professor in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability and researcher with CSU's Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory. The project has been conducted in collaboration with local, state and federal agencies and land managers to enable solution-oriented results that will best support restoration needs of the community

External Link (Today@Colorado Sate)