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Harvard Forest REU Symposium Abstract 2010
- Title: A comparative study of digital image capture technology for phenological research
- Author: Cory L TesheraSterne (Mount Holyoke College)
- Abstract:
Phenological researchers investigate how changing environmental factors will affect the duration and intensity of recurring organismal life-cycle events, such as the seasonal photosynthetic activity of a deciduous New England forest. Like many scientific disciplines, phenology has in recent years experienced significant changes in measurement techniques, from individual observations of small areas to large-scale and data-intensive satellite spectroradiometry measurements. A third approach, intermediate in cost and scale, is to observe study sites with networked digital cameras. Phenocam (http://klima.sr.unh.edu) is a national phenology observation network creating a database of digital images from cameras installed at research forests and National Parks. Image analysis, however, is affected by cameras designed to perform pre-processing to produce "higher quality" images, consequently retaining less of the raw color data needed for tracking photosynthetic activity. Post-processing can reduce these effects, but conflicts remain between researchers' needs and the capabilities of instruments generally optimized for surveillance applications. To determine the best equipment for this application, we installed fourteen cameras on the Harvard Forest EMS walk-up tower in a comparative experiment. The data captured by these cameras range from high-quality video from internet-enabled surveillance models to low-frequency time-lapse images from modified point-and-shoot consumer models. Several models were configured to compare photographic settings such as exposure and infrared capabilities. Future work will include evaluation of the cameras' performance and data quality after operation over a full field season, and will ultimately provide recommendations for future installations. In addition, camera- and satellite-derived data are being compared to validate digital image data and processing methods, with the goal of presenting this information in a form intended to expand the Phenocam website's usefulness to phenological researchers and the general public.
- Research Category: Physiological Ecology, Population Dynamics, and Species Interactions
