SALCA @ Newcastle

2013 kicked off with another new addition to the SALCA team. Steve Hancock (previously at Swansea University) started work as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Newcastle University as the latest NERC grant got under way  The project is examining the potential of dual-wavelength laser scanning for monitoring leaf moisture content at canopy scales through both laboratory and small-scale field experiments at one of the Newcastle University farms.  The initial project meeting, including project partners from Salford (Mark Danson, Lucy Walker) and UCL (Mat Disney, Andrew Burt), was held in January, providing a useful opportunity to catch up on progress, introduce new members of the team and make future plans. Since then Steve has been busy planning experiments and these are now under way  with SALCA on loan from Salford University for the next month. Priorities include examining leaf-level responses from a variety of species (including conifers) and undertaking laboratory-based scans of small trees.  Other efforts (at Newcastle and Salford) are focussed on code and model development to improve data analysis and understanding of the SALCA signal. Expect more soon from Steve as he starts to produce some preliminary results!

Steve, with SALCA, at Newcastle University