I study vegetation-climate interactions in the context of climate change. My research work includes spatial ecology, plant physiology, remote sensing, and climate change. Specifically, I am interested in the climatic controls on vegetation photosynthesis and related plant functioning, the feedbacks of vegetation to the climate, and the impact of climate change on vegetation phenology. I develop novel approaches to quantify photosynthesis and leaf traits remotely, and I use advanced computation approaches such as data assimilation to bridge the gap between observations and models to improve our predictions of carbon, water and energy fluxes.

Yang Google Scholar Link

Convergence in relationships between leaf traits, spectra and age across diverse canopy environments and two contrasting tropical forests
2016; New Phytologist; J Wu | C Chavana‐Bryant | N Prohaska | SP Serbin | K Guan | LP Albert | ...

Seasonal variability of multiple leaf traits captured by leaf spectroscopy at two temperate deciduous forests
2016; Remote Sensing of Environment; X Yang | J Tang | J Mustard | J Wu | K Zhao | S Serbin | JE Lee

Relationship between leaf physiologic traits and canopy color indices during the leaf expansion period in an oak forest
2015; Ecosphere; Z Liu | H Hu | H Yu | X Yang | H Yang | C Ruan | Y Wang | J Tang

Simulations of chlorophyll fluorescence incorporated into the Community Land Model version 4
2015; Global change biology; JE Lee | JA Berry | C Tol | X Yang | L Guanter | A Damm | I Baker | ...

Solar‐induced chlorophyll fluorescence that correlates with canopy photosynthesis on diurnal and seasonal scales in a temperate deciduous forest
2015; Geophysical Research Letters; X Yang | J Tang | JF Mustard | JE Lee | M Rossini | J Joiner | JW Munger | ...

Application of DMSP/OLS nighttime light images: A meta-analysis and a systematic literature review
2014; Remote Sensing Q Huang | X Yang | B Gao | Y Yang | Y Zhao

Evaluating remotely sensed phenological metrics in a dynamic ecosystem model
2014; Remote Sensing; H Xu | TE Twine | X Yang

Beyond leaf color: Comparing camera‐based phenological metrics with leaf biochemical | biophysical | and spectral properties throughout the growing season of a temperate deciduous forest
2014; Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences; X Yang | J Tang | JF Mustard

Earlier-season vegetation has greater temperature sensitivity of spring phenology in Northern Hemisphere
2014; PloS one; M Shen | Y Tang | J Chen | X Yang | C Wang | X Cui | Y Yang | L Han | L Li | ...

Regional-scale phenology modeling based on meteorological records and remote sensing observations
2012; Journal of Geophysical Research; X Yang | JF Mustard | J Tang | H Xu

TEACHING

EVSC 4559/7559 - Remote Sensing Applications