Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Vegetated Microclimates from Synergistic Mobile and Stationary Measurements

Connections between microclimate and ecological systems are widely recognized. Recently, the relevance of microclimate to ecological microrefugia has been highlighted in relation to endangered species and relict habitats under changing large-scale climate forcing and anthropogenic habitat losses. While truly undisturbed natural environments are rare, the broader category of non-urban vegetated land is much more widespread globally than urban surfaces. Therefore within-canopy microclimatic processes are globally important for interactions with the macroclimate. Aside from local topographic and hydrologic forcing, the structure, phenology, and behavior of vegetation canopies (forest, woodland, shrub, grassland) interact with radiative, wind, and evapotranspiration processes to modulate and drive site microclimate. To effectively sample the spatiotemporal characteristics of microclimates, it is suggested that numerical modelling, mobile transects, and surface parameters (terrain, vegetation) should be used to design measurement strategies. In particular, the very high spatial resolution of within-canopy measurements from mobile pedestrian measurements are relevant to compare spatial variations to forcing from vegetation cover, terrain, and surface moisture.

A series of microscale measurements of temperature, humidity, and radiation has been launched using a pedestrian mobile system previously developed in the CHEESEHEAD2019 field campaign, in tandem with strategically located stationary sensors over a variety of environments. The initial five sites are located in upland, floodplain, and riverine areas of Mississippi. Other sites with greater topographic relief will be investigated in Maryland and Missouri.