The Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) lab is hosting Dr. Ángela Hernández-Moreno, a research scientist at the Centro de Investigación en Ecosistemas de la Patagonia (CIEP) in Chile, to work on a collaborative project with Dr. Peter Potapov. Dr. Hernández-Moreno uses satellite imagery to map land cover and land use change to establish the effect of landscape-level fires on forest structure and ecosystem functions in Chilean Patagonia and particularly the Aysen Region.
Dr. Hernández-Moreno’s recent research has used Landsat Analysis Ready Data (ARD) developed by the GLAD Lab for multidecadal land cover and land use change analysis in Patagonia. Her 2-month internship with the GLAD lab will focus on training to use tools and GLAD ARD in order to map the old-growth forests in the temperate ecosystem of Chilean Patagonia. GLAD lab expertise will be used for integrating the Landsat-derived tree canopy structure maps with local ground truth data to estimate the capacity of the Patagonian temperate forests to store carbon.
While at the University of Maryland, Dr. Hernández-Moreno will also collaborate with Dr. Potapov on his project mapping forest extent, structure, change, and aboveground biomass in South America. Their collaboration began in 2022 when Dr. Potapov was invited by CIEP to visit Patagonia as an international expert.
Dr. Hernández-Moreno’s internship is supported by the Fondecyt N° 11220353 and ANID N° R20F0002 projects while Dr. Potapov’s work is supported by the Global Forest Watch.