Looking up at a forest canopy, in some areas the leaves have an open pattern and lots of light enters, while in other areas the leaves are clumped and little light enters. Eco3D combines three instruments that will make unique 3-D measurements of the canopy structure.
Publisher's Note: Following is a brief excerpt from Joanne Howl's excellent blog on the Eco3D mission. You can follow Howl as the mission unfolds at
The weather in Bangor is supposed to be beautiful tomorrow, with no rain and plenty of sun in the forecast. Now we've finally got the weather we need for a great day of data gathering. And our instruments are running perfectly. But now the third piece is missing”we don't have an aircraft.
So, thanks to Irene's approach, we head home tomorrow. We'll be at Wallops by 10 a.m., and then I'll join the coastal evacuation traffic heading west. All I can hope is that the Bay Bridge”a terrific traffic bottleneck for ordinary summer weekend beach traffic”isn't jam-packed with evacuation traffic.
The Howland crew plans to work in the field all day tomorrow, then they try to get back to Maryland in time to make a few storm preparations. Most likely, they will drive all night long, from Maine to Greenbelt, swapping drivers to make the best time.
Despite our difficulties, the mission has really only just begun. We've got the Eco-3D South Flight to fly shortly, as well as flights over sites in Maryland. We've only just begun the blog, too”we'll continue soon. Stay tuned!
