With space agencies investing in sensor fleets specifically designed to monitor and assess biodiversity and ecosystem health, we have now, for the first time, the opportunity to design global monitoring systems to detect early signs of ecosystem change.

In her talk, Dr. Shweiger will highlight remote sensing of biodiversity with a focus on vegetation spectroscopy. She will present the use of spectrometers across spatial scales (from leaves to individual plants and plant communities); applications of imaging spectroscopy for mapping plant traits, plant community composition, and the detection of plant species and disease; and examples of linking plant diversity to the diversity of other organism groups (from microbes to ungulates).

Spectroscopy not only allows modeling, predicting, and mapping of several aspects of biodiversity., it bridges ecology, biodiversity science and remote sensing which is critical at this time of rapid global change.