Keck Institute for Space Studies
California Institute of Technology
Next-Generation Approach for Detecting Climate-Carbon Feedbacks
This was a weeklong lecture series that brought together 29 scientists from different fields to address a new method for improving our understanding of climate-carbon interactions by using satellite data to analyze three important compounds from plants. This approach aims to give a clearer view of the carbon cycle and how it relates to the climate.
My role in this lecture series was to visually interpret the data presented in real-time.
Compounds Analyzed:
Carbonyl Sulfide (OCS): Primarily linked to plant photosynthetic activity, offering information on the immediate physiological state of vegetation.
Solar Induced Fluorescence (SIF): Directly indicates the level of plant photosynthesis by measuring the light emitted by chlorophyll when excited by sunlight.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2): Represents the overall carbon sink/source balance of an ecosystem.
final rendering: Keck Institute for Space Studies / Chuck Carter
Whiteboard SketchesEach day of the lecture I would create quick visual representations to effectively illustrate the data presented in real time on a panel of the whiteboard.
Refined SketchesThe visuals from each day would then be refined into comprehensible illustrations.
Conceptual Sketches After interpreting all of the data, I would create concepts for hand off to the 3D artist for final image rendering.
Concepts include:
Showing different elevations and how the equipment interacts with the environment
Comparing the carbon cycle to the human body
Comparing wildlife to photosynthesis on the ground level
