Geography & Environmental Science Seminar Seminar

Nichola Strandberg - Landscape dynamics and Ecology

Title: Shore displacement in relation to human habitation in Eastern Gotland, Sweden

Abstract:
Using diatoms, pollen, and geochemistry, we explore human habitation around Lina myr, Gotland, in relation to shore displacement. Archeological evidence has shown that Lina myr was an important area for its prehistoric human inhabitants. We investigate if and when Lina myr was connected to the sea and could therefore have been part of an inland water system useful for transport. A chronology was based on 14C AMS dating of terrestrial macrofossils and bulk sediments with dates ranging between 9100 and 2360 cal. yr BP. The initiation of the Littorina transgression was dated to 8500 cal. yr BP. A twofold pattern for the maximum sub-phase of the Littorina Sea is suggested from 8100 to 7500 cal. yr BP and from 6500 to 6000 cal. yr BP. The onset of cultivation and grazing was indicated by the presence of Hordeum and Plantago lanceolata in the pollen record during the Late Neolithic, at about 4580 cal. yr BP. During this time sea level was relatively higher than today and the Lina myr basin was connected with the Littorina Sea, which it continued to be until isostatic uplift caused it to become isolated at about 3820 cal. yr BP. After about 3000 cal. yr BP, human-made landscape changes intensified, grasslands increased, and shrublands decreased.

Harry Morris - Environmental Change and Sustainability

Title: Ground Based Observations for Validation (GBOV): initial results and findings

Abstract:
The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) recently initiated the ‘Ground Based Observations for Validation (GBOV)’ service, which aims to develop high quality in-situ datasets for the direct validation of the Copernicus Global Land Service (CGLS) global bio-geophysical products. In the first component of the project, raw observations from a range of existing networks have been collected and processed to provide datasets suitable for validating seven core land products. Our validation will focus on the vegetation variables, namely leaf area index (LAI), the fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FAPAR), and the fraction of vegetation cover (FCOVER). The second component of the project, involves the installation of new instrumentation at field sites to automate dataset generation. Initial results and validation of the bio-geophysical products is presented.

Speaker Information

Mrs Nichola Strandberg, Postgraduate research student (SPITFIRE)

Mr Harry Morris, Research Technician for Earth Observation