Charting the boreal forest's role in global change

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Abstract
A new study lasting from 1990–1996 will focus on the interactions between the boreal forest biome and the atmosphere, to clarify their roles in global change. The Boreal Eco‐system‐Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) centers on a cooperative field experiment integrating land surface climatology, tropospheric chemistry, and terrestrial ecology; remote sensing will play a strong integrating role. A major field effort will take place on the study's two 20×20 km sites in the boreal forest of North America, located near the biome's northern and southern limits.Studies at the two sites will explore the roles of various environmental factors such as temperature and soil moisture in controlling the extent and character of the biome. Observations of the sites from the surface, from the air, and from space aim to improve understanding of the biological and physical processes and states that govern the exchanges of energy, water, heat, carbon, and trace gases between boreal forest ecosystems and the atmosphere, with particular reference to those processes and states that may be sensitive to global change. The study will also seek to develop remote sensing techniques so that understanding of the exchange processes can be extended from local to regional scales.

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