A picture is worth a thousand words…and so much more! In fact, every little pixel has a story to tell and AMC’s Research Department is now using a tool developed by the PhenoCam group to extract information on red, blue, and green colors from photos. Because the ratio of these colors change seasonally we will be able to develop a tree canopy fall color profile as part of an ongoing research study to track mountain seasonal events like foliage changes. We will also relate the color profile to other measurements like air temperature to determine if we can identify important environmental drivers of fall color change as well as learn more about how climate change influences the timing of important seasonal events like when deciduous trees transition from active photosynthesis to winter dormancy.
Lindsey Bergholm, shown here downloading images from our camera, is a senior at Plymouth State University studying Environmental Biology and is working on this project as part of an internship with AMC.
