Polar ecosystems are changing rapidly amid global climate change. Near Palmer Station, Antarctica, weather patterns are shifting from cold, dry, predictable patterns toward a wetter, more variable environment, and species are responding accordingly. Scientists are studying aspects of this ecological shift at Palmer Station, targeting select species and processes for lab and field research. 

New remote sensing techniques are helping to expand these efforts by integrating current studies into a more holistic context of regional biogeography. Unoccupied aircraft systems (UASs or drones) provide ultra-high-resolution spatial data to describe entire landscapes, capturing species presence, land cover and changes over time in this shifting polar ecosystem. 

Teaming up with leading scientists, this project team integrated diverse remote sensing datasets with on-site data and expertise from Palmer Station to establish new baselines for current study and future comparisons of dynamic Antarctic coastal habitats.

Integrating Diverse Data to Characterize Antarctic Biogeography

Poster by Gregory Larsen, Akash Mullick, Chelsea Tuohy, Hanna Varga, Ziya Zhou, Zoe Wong, Aimi Wen, Catherine Brenner and David Johnston