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Proximal Remote Sensing

A new proliferation of optical instruments that can be attached to towers over or within ecosystems, a.k.a. ‘proximal’ remote sensing, enables a comprehensive characterization of terrestrial ecosystem structure, function, and fluxes of energy, water, and carbon. Proximal remote sensing bridges the gap between individual plants, site-level eddy-covariance fluxes, and air- and space-borne remote sensing by providing continuous data at a high-spatiotemporal resolution. Specifically the PIE lab uses proximal remote sensing to address:

  1. What is the scale dependence (spectral, spatial, and temporal) of ecological processes and fluxes?
  2. What are the underlying physical and biological drivers of observed remote sensing signals?
  3. How can new technologies, synergies, algorithms, and models developed at the site advance our understanding of global ecology at scale?
Overview diagram of proximal remote sensing instruments mounted on a flux tower
Overview of proximal remote sensing instruments at a flux tower site. From Pierrat, Z. A., et al. 2025, New Phytologist Tansley Review. doi.org/10.1111/nph.20405

Related Publications

The following publications focus on the utility of proximal remote sensing and instrument development. See other research themes for work that uses proximal remote sensing to answer ecological questions.

  • Ruehr, S., Pierrat, Z.A., Parazoo, N., Keenan, T.F. (2026). Harnessing solar-induced fluorescence for on-farm agricultural research and management: recent advances and outstanding needs. Environ. Res. Lett. 21, 111007. doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae74e2
  • Pierrat, Z. A., Magney, T. S., Richardson, W. P., Runkle, B. R. K., Diehl, J., Yang, X., Woodgate, W., Smith, W. K., Johnston, M. R., Ginting, Y. R. S., Koren, G., Albert, L. P., Kibler, C. L., Morgan, B. E., Barnes, M., Uscanga, A., Devine, C., Javadian, M., Meza, K., Julitta, T., Tagliabue, G., Dannenberg, M. P., Antala, M., Wong, C. Y. S., Santos, A. L. D., Hufkens, K., Marrs, J. K., Stovall, A. E. L., Liu, Y., Fisher, J. B., Gamon, J, A., Cawse-Nicholson, K. (2025). Proximal Remote Sensing: An essential tool for bridging the gap between high resolution ecosystem monitoring and global ecology. New Phytologist Tansley Review. doi.org/10.1111/nph.20405
  • Runkle, B. R. K., Barnes, M., Dannenberg, M., Gamon, J. A., Magney, T., Pierrat, Z. A, Southwick, C. D., Still, C., & Woodgate, W. (2025). Near-surface remote sensing applications for a robust, climate-smart measurement, monitoring, and information system (MMIS). Carbon Management, 16(1), 2465361. doi.org/10.1080/17583004.2025.2465361
  • Magney, T. S., Pierrat, Z. A., Wong, C. Y. S. Scaling Forest Ecophysiology from the Leaf to the Satellite. Book Chapter in “Following Photons Through Forests — A Radiation Ecology”. Springer Nature. (in review). ESS Open Archive. doi.org/10.22541/essoar.172978609.92915710/v1
  • Pierrat, Z., Magney, T., Yang, X., Khan, A., Albert, L. (2023). Ecosystem observations from every angle. Eos, 104. doi.org/10.1029/2023EO230483. Published 14 December 2023.
  • Runkle, B., Barnes, M., Pierrat, Z. A., and Members of the Fluxnet Linking Optical and Energy Fluxes Workshop, Nederland, Colorado, July 12–15, 2023. Public response on the Federal Strategy to Advance Measurement and Monitoring Greenhouse Gas Measurement and Monitoring for the Agriculture and Forest Sectors (2023). Published August 10, 2023.

Published Data

  • Pierrat, Z. (2023). Evergreen needleleaf forest pigment, MONI-PAM, eddy-covariance, and tower-scale remote sensing data across four different sites [Data set]. In BioScience. Zenodo. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10048770
  • Pierrat, Z., Troy Magney, David R. Bowling, Bruce Johnson, Alan Barr, & Jochen Stutz. (2022). Boreal forest tower-based remote sensing data (solar-induced fluorescence and reflectance-based vegetation indices) [Data set]. Zenodo. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7231157
  • Pierrat, Z., & Jochen Stutz. (2022). Tower-based solar-induced fluorescence and vegetation index data for Southern Old Black Spruce forest (Version 2) [Data set]. Zenodo. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7596931
  • Pierrat, Z., Johnson, B., Helgason, W., Barr, A., Stutz, J. (2022). Gross primary production and environmental observations for a mature black spruce site located in central Saskatchewan, Canada, for the period Sep-2018 to Dec-2020. Federated Research Data Repository. doi.org/10.20383/102.0550
  • Pierrat, Z., Troy Magney, & Jochen Stutz. (2021). Tower-based remote sensing data for understory vegetation at Delta Junction, Alaska 2019–2020 [Data set]. Zenodo. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5806488
  • Pierrat, Z., Johnson, B., Helgason, W., Barr, A., Stutz, J. (2021). Environmental and gross primary production observations for a mature black spruce site located in central Saskatchewan, Canada. Federated Research Data Repository. doi.org/10.20383/101.0300
  • Pierrat, Z., & Stutz, J. (2021). Tower-based remote sensing data for mixed-species boreal forest spring transition 2019 and 2020 [Data set]. Zenodo. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4637567