Welcome to the Global Change Research Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. We are a group of scientists who are interested in understanding how climate change and human activities affect terrestrial ecosystems as well as their feedback to the human and Earth systems. We develop and use a variety of tools including land surface models, remote sensing models and data, integrated assessment models and model-data fusion techniques.
"All models are wrong, but some are useful."
George Box
Lab news
AGU24!
Most of our lab traveled to Washington, DC, for the AGU 2024 Annual Meeting, and it was a truly enriching experience! It’s always a joy to reconnect with old friends, make new connections, and immerse …
December 24, 2024
Magical Hotspot Effect: Enhanced Correlation Between Hotspot Vegetation Index and Photosynthetic Carbon Flux
Haoran led a study published in Remote Sensing of Environment. This study reveals that measuring the near-infrared reflectance of vegetation (NIRvP) in the “hotspot” direction—where satellite sensors align with the sun’s path—offers a stronger correlation …
December 24, 2024
AttentionFire v2.0! Fa published a study on projecting large fires in the western US using a hybrid physical-ML model
“Anthropogenic climate change has caused more frequent and widespread large fires in the western United States (US). Interpretable and accurate methods that can predict large fires in advance and at a high spatial resolution are …
December 16, 2024
Hamid and Min participated in Dairy Summit 2024 hosted by UW’s Dairy Innovation Hub
Hamid and Min were invited to give a talk and poster presentation at Dairy Summit 2024 on Nov. 20, hosted by UW’s Dairy Innovation Hub (DIH), focusing on assessment of impacts of climate policy and …
November 20, 2024New publication by Hamid: Ecosystem Disturbance Recovery: What It Was or What It Could Have Been?
Hamid led a study that explores traditional vs. counterfactual views on ecosystem recovery in the age of climate change. Traditionally, recovery means bouncing back to a pre-disturbance state. The problem? It assumes a stable ecosystem, …
September 4, 2024
New study led by Meng Luo: Impacts of Forest Management-Induced Productivity Changes on Future Land Use and Land Cover Change
We found more intense forest management leads to smaller land use and land cover changes and helps preserve natural lands by 2100. See details at https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024EF004878
August 22, 2024
Fujiang and Fa led a publication on the transferability of PLSR models for leaf trait estimation: lessons from a comprehensive analysis with a novel global dataset
We compiled a comprehensive dataset of leaf traits and spectra to explore the transferability of predictive models. We found that while PLSR models demonstrate commendable performance in predicting chlorophyll content, carotenoid, leaf water, and leaf …
May 9, 2024
New paper in Nature Climate Change: Xiaojia and Fa led a study investigating Boreal-Arctic wetland methane emissions
“Methane concentrations are rising faster than ever in the atmosphere. Now, a compilation of observations points towards increased methane emissions from Arctic wetlands as being partly responsible” – Commented by Torben R. Christensen Check out …
March 15, 2024Hamid won the 2023 DIH Postdoctoral Fellowship – Congratulations!
Wisconsin is the second-largest dairy producer in the US, but the industry is facing challenges, including climate change and changes in dietary patterns. US climate policies, including carbon pricing, are complex due to variations between …
November 22, 2023- More