Sami W. Rifai
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View article: Detecting and attributing climate change effects on vegetation: Australia as a test case
Detecting and attributing climate change effects on vegetation: Australia as a test case Open
Societal Impact Statement Climate change is contributing to vegetation changes that threaten life support systems. Yet, inherent climatic variability and past and present human actions—such as clearing, burning and grazing regimes—also alt…
View article: Comprehensive reassessment of Australia's land-surface phenology trends (1982–2022) using circular statistics and a harmonised NDVI dataset
Comprehensive reassessment of Australia's land-surface phenology trends (1982–2022) using circular statistics and a harmonised NDVI dataset Open
View article: Soil buffers the impact of precipitation variability on ecosystem function
Soil buffers the impact of precipitation variability on ecosystem function Open
View article: AusEFlux: Empirical upscaling of OzFlux eddy covariance flux tower data over Australia
AusEFlux: Empirical upscaling of OzFlux eddy covariance flux tower data over Australia Open
AusEFlux (Australian Empirical Fluxes) is a high resolution (500 metre) gridded estimate of Gross Primary Productivity (GPP), Ecosystem Respiration (ER), Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE), and Evapotranspiration over the Australian continent fo…
View article: Amazon rainforest adjusts to long-term experimental drought
Amazon rainforest adjusts to long-term experimental drought Open
View article: Temporal and Spatial Distribution of 2022–2023 River Murray Major Flood Sediment Plume
Temporal and Spatial Distribution of 2022–2023 River Murray Major Flood Sediment Plume Open
This study examined a sediment plume from Australia’s largest river, The River Murray, which was produced during a major flood event in 2022–2023. This flood resulted from successive La Niña events, causing high rainfall across the Murray–…
View article: Tropical forests in the Americas are changing too slowly to track climate change
Tropical forests in the Americas are changing too slowly to track climate change Open
Understanding the capacity of forests to adapt to climate change is of pivotal importance for conservation science, yet this is still widely unknown. This knowledge gap is particularly acute in high-biodiversity tropical forests. Here, we …
View article: Canopy functional trait variation across Earth’s tropical forests
Canopy functional trait variation across Earth’s tropical forests Open
Tropical forest canopies are the biosphere’s most concentrated atmospheric interface for carbon, water and energy 1,2 . However, in most Earth System Models, the diverse and heterogeneous tropical forest biome is represented as a largely u…
View article: A Review of Infrared Thermography Applications for Civil Infrastructure
A Review of Infrared Thermography Applications for Civil Infrastructure Open
View article: Comprehensive Reassessment of Australia's Land-Surface Phenology Trends (1982-2022) Using Circular Statistics and a Harmonised Ndvi Dataset
Comprehensive Reassessment of Australia's Land-Surface Phenology Trends (1982-2022) Using Circular Statistics and a Harmonised Ndvi Dataset Open
View article: Enhancing long-term vegetation monitoring in Australia: a new approach for harmonising the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer normalised-difference vegetation index (NDVI) with MODIS NDVI
Enhancing long-term vegetation monitoring in Australia: a new approach for harmonising the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer normalised-difference vegetation index (NDVI) with MODIS NDVI Open
Long-term, reliable datasets of satellite-based vegetation condition are essential for understanding terrestrial ecosystem responses to global environmental change, particularly in Australia, which is characterised by diverse ecosystems an…
View article: The distribution and drivers of tree cover in savannas and forests across India
The distribution and drivers of tree cover in savannas and forests across India Open
The distribution of forest and savanna biomes and the role of resources (climate and soil) and disturbances (fire and herbivory) in determining tree-grass dynamics remains elusive and variable across geographies. This is especially problem…
View article: Remote sensing for rangeland conservation monitoring: Impacts of livestock removal after 15 years
Remote sensing for rangeland conservation monitoring: Impacts of livestock removal after 15 years Open
Degradation from overgrazing of global arid rangelands is of significant concern for this widespread terrestrial ecosystem, and the people who rely on its sustainable use. Addressing this degradation requires a better understanding of how …
View article: Examining the role of biophysical feedbacks on simulated temperature extremes during the Tinderbox Drought and Black Summer bushfires in southeast Australia
Examining the role of biophysical feedbacks on simulated temperature extremes during the Tinderbox Drought and Black Summer bushfires in southeast Australia Open
The Tinderbox Drought (2017–2019) was one of the most severe droughts recorded in Australia. The extreme summer air temperatures (>40 °C) combined with drought, contributed to the unprecedented Black Summer bushfires in 2019–20 over southe…
View article: Comment on essd-2024-89
Comment on essd-2024-89 Open
Abstract. Long-term, reliable datasets of satellite-based vegetation condition are essential for understanding terrestrial ecosystem responses to global environmental change, particularly in Australia which is characterise…
View article: Comment on essd-2024-89
Comment on essd-2024-89 Open
Abstract. Long-term, reliable datasets of satellite-based vegetation condition are essential for understanding terrestrial ecosystem responses to global environmental change, particularly in Australia which is characterise…
View article: Comment on essd-2024-89
Comment on essd-2024-89 Open
Abstract. Long-term, reliable datasets of satellite-based vegetation condition are essential for understanding terrestrial ecosystem responses to global environmental change, particularly in Australia which is characterise…
View article: Contrasting carbon cycle along tropical forest aridity gradients in West Africa and Amazonia
Contrasting carbon cycle along tropical forest aridity gradients in West Africa and Amazonia Open
Tropical forests cover large areas of equatorial Africa and play a substantial role in the global carbon cycle. However, there has been a lack of biometric measurements to understand the forests’ gross and net primary productivity (GPP, NP…
View article: Enhancing Long-Term Vegetation Monitoring in Australia: A New Approach for Harmonising and Gap-Filling AVHRR and MODIS NDVI
Enhancing Long-Term Vegetation Monitoring in Australia: A New Approach for Harmonising and Gap-Filling AVHRR and MODIS NDVI Open
Long-term, reliable datasets of satellite-based vegetation condition are essential for understanding terrestrial ecosystem responses to global environmental change, particularly in Australia which is characterised by diverse ecosystems and…
View article: Burn Severity and Post‐Fire Weather Are Key to Predicting Time‐To‐Recover From Australian Forest Fires
Burn Severity and Post‐Fire Weather Are Key to Predicting Time‐To‐Recover From Australian Forest Fires Open
Climate change has accelerated the frequency of catastrophic wildfires; however, the drivers that control the time‐to‐recover of forests are poorly understood. We integrated remotely sensed data, climate records, and landscape features to …
View article: Arid erosion mapping: comparing LiDAR and structure from motion
Arid erosion mapping: comparing LiDAR and structure from motion Open
Rapid development and uptake in uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) for environmental monitoring, specifically using three-dimensional data from LiDAR and structure from motion (SfM), has enabled improved condition assessment, including fine-s…
View article: Empirical upscaling of OzFlux eddy covariance for accurate, high-resolution monitoring of terrestrial carbon and water fluxes in Australia.
Empirical upscaling of OzFlux eddy covariance for accurate, high-resolution monitoring of terrestrial carbon and water fluxes in Australia. Open
We discuss the development of high-resolution (1 km) estimates of terrestrial carbon and water fluxes over the Australian continent by empirical upscaling of a regional network of flux tower measurements (“AusEFlux” v1.1 …
View article: Australia’s Tinderbox Drought: An extreme natural event likely worsened by human-caused climate change
Australia’s Tinderbox Drought: An extreme natural event likely worsened by human-caused climate change Open
We examine the characteristics and causes of southeast Australia’s Tinderbox Drought (2017 to 2019) that preceded the Black Summer fire disaster. The Tinderbox Drought was characterized by cool season rainfall deficits of around −50% in th…
View article: Landscape and management influences on smallholder agroforestry yields show shifts during a climate shock
Landscape and management influences on smallholder agroforestry yields show shifts during a climate shock Open
Sustaining yields for smallholder perennial agriculture under a rapidly changing climate regime may require consideration of landscape features and on-farm management decisions in tandem. Optimising landscape and management may not be poss…
View article: The distribution and drivers of tree cover in India
The distribution and drivers of tree cover in India Open
The distribution of forest and savanna biomes and the role of resources (climate and soil) and disturbances (fire and herbivory) in determining tree-grass dynamics remains elusive and variable across geographies. This is especially problem…
View article: An automated procedure to determine construction year of roads in forested landscapes using a least‐cost path and a <scp>Before‐After Control‐Impact</scp> approach
An automated procedure to determine construction year of roads in forested landscapes using a least‐cost path and a <span>Before‐After Control‐Impact</span> approach Open
Proximity to roads is one of the main determinants of deforestation in the Amazon basin. Determining the construction year of roads (CYR) is critical to improve the understanding of the drivers of road construction and to enable prediction…
View article: Australia’s Tinderbox Drought: an extreme natural event likely worsened by human-caused climate change
Australia’s Tinderbox Drought: an extreme natural event likely worsened by human-caused climate change Open
We examine the characteristics and causes of southeast Australia’s Tinderbox Drought (2017–2019) that preceded the Black Summer fire disaster. The Tinderbox Drought was characterised by cool season rainfall deficits of around –50% in three…
View article: Empirical upscaling of OzFlux eddy covariance for high-resolution monitoring of terrestrial carbon uptake in Australia
Empirical upscaling of OzFlux eddy covariance for high-resolution monitoring of terrestrial carbon uptake in Australia Open
We develop high-resolution (1 km) estimates of gross primary productivity (GPP), ecosystem respiration (ER), and net ecosystem exchange (NEE) over the Australian continent for the period January 2003 to June 2022 by empirical upscaling of …
View article: Contrasting carbon cycle along tropical forest aridity gradients in W Africa and Amazonia
Contrasting carbon cycle along tropical forest aridity gradients in W Africa and Amazonia Open
Tropical forests cover large areas of equatorial Africa and play a significant role in the global carbon cycle. However, there has been a lack of in-situ measurements to understand the forests’ gross and net primary productivity (GPP and N…
View article: Action needed to make carbon offsets from forest conservation work for climate change mitigation
Action needed to make carbon offsets from forest conservation work for climate change mitigation Open
Carbon offsets from voluntary avoided-deforestation projects are generated on the basis of performance in relation to ex ante deforestation baselines. We examined the effects of 26 such project sites in six countries on three continents us…