A new study led by ecohydrologists at IUPUI has shown for the first time that it's possible to use satellite data to measure the threat of climate change to ecological systems that depend on water from fog.
The paper, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, presents the first clear evidence that the relationship between fog levels and vegetation status is measurable using remote sensing. The discovery opens up the potential to easily and rapidly assess fog's impact on ecological health across large land masses -- as compared to painstaking ground-level observation.
"It's never been shown before that you can observe the effect of fog on vegetation from outer space," said Lixin Wang, an associate professor in the School of Science at IUPUI, who is the senior author on the study. "The ability to use the satellite data for this purpose is a major technological advance."
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