Estimating forest biomass and degradation
New NERC-funded CASE Studentship
Dr Mat Disney
Dr Mat Disney has been awarded a NERC-funded CASE PhD studentship to explore the use of new remote sensing techniques, including airborne lidar, to estimate forest biomass and degradation. CASE studentships involve a commercial partner, in this case EADS Astrium GEO-Information Services, whose interests include developing forest biomass products from Earth Observation.
The PhD presents an exciting opportunity to combine new models with satellite, aircraft and field observations. The PhD student will use 3D modelling tools and methods developed at UCL Geography by Dr. Disney and Professor Philip Lewis to explore how information from remote sensing can be used to estimate hw degradation impacts on forest carbon stocks, particularly in the tropics. These models will be linked to field measurements in the UK and in Gabon, West Africa. The project will be co-supervised by Professor Lewis and also by Dr Simon Lewis, who will provide a key ecological perspective from tropical forest properties measured from the ground.
