UC GIS Week

Photosynthesis from Space: Solar-Induced Fluorescence Across Droughts and Tariffs

I present early exploratory results using monthly OCO-2 solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) over Iowa (2014–2025) to see whether broad shocks show up in crop activity. I compute statewide and county SIF means and standard deviations for morning (a) and evening (b), plot the long-term time series and seasonal cycle, and map the simple diurnal difference (a–b). I compare these patterns to (i) U.S. Drought Monitor intensity and (ii) key tariff periods, and summarize annual crop composition from the USDA Cropland Data Layer (corn/soy shares, indications of fallowing). The goal is descriptive: highlight years/months where SIF anomalies align with drought and note any coincident shifts in crop shares around tariff windows. I’ll close with a short roadmap for adding basic masks and simple correlations, with causal modeling left for future work.

UCSB Tree Restoration Data Collection and Monitoring

This lightning talk will introduce data collection methods used in the field at restoration sites managed by the Cheadle Center for Ecological Restoration at UCSB and demonstrate how the collected data is used to create publicly available web maps. These web maps display photo monitoring points at the Ellwood Marine Terminal restoration site, as well as tree monitoring data from the Ellwood Monarch Grove restoration site. The presentation will also include a discussion of future web map project ideas related to ecological restoration, such as displaying water quality and/or water elevation data collected from pressure transducers at the North Campus Open Space restoration site.

Exploring Water Use on Fallowed Fields

In response to a record drought along the Colorado River, the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) has set aside funding to incentivize agricultural land fallowing to produce water savings and protect water elevations in Lake Mead and Lake Powell. Fallowing is a well-known and accepted method for producing agricultural water savings but studies have shown that fallowed fields consume some water which reduces the water savings impact of fallowing. Understanding the different factors that affect this fallowed field consumption can be key in minimizing their water use. This study evaluated traits that potentially correlate with consumptive use on fallowed fields using the Palo Verde Irrigation District Fallowing Program. Using evapotranspiration (ET) data from OpenET and crop shapefiles I show that fallowed field consumptive use is generally positively and statistically significantly correlated with the ET of its surrounding fields, smaller field size, and field narrowness, while being negatively and statistically significantly correlated with time fallowed. Future and on-going fallowing programs may be able to be made more efficient by adopting regulations to prioritize field traits that minimize fallowed water consumption. This could include ensuring larger and squarer fallowed fields, increasing the allowable time that a field can be fallowed, and locating fallowed fields away from high water use crops.

Agrivoltaics Suitability: Multi Criteria Decision Making in a Repurposing Context

California’s groundwater crisis is reshaping the state’s agricultural landscape. Implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) requires regional agencies to drastically reduce groundwater use—potentially fallowing nearly 900,000 acres of farmland in the San Joaquin Valley. As regions plan for a more water-limited future, innovative land use strategies are needed to sustain rural economies, preserve food production, and meet groundwater goals. Agrivoltaics—the co-location of solar photovoltaic systems and agriculture—offers a potential water savings for agriculture through increased soil moisture retention and reduced evapotranspiration. A new concept to California, this project develops a spatial Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) framework to identify areas in California most suitable for agrivoltaic deployment. Using GIS-based suitability modeling and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), I synthesize environmental, infrastructural, and social criteria. This study aims to conduct analyses relevant to decision makers at the basin-level by creating easy to use geospatial tools.

Spatial and Cultural Storytelling: Mapping Asian American Narratives through GIS, Oral History, and Virtual Reality

This year-long project unites the Oral History and Virtual Reality cohorts of the Asian American Youth Leaders (AAYL) Program in Irvine, California to document and spatialize the experiences of Asian American professionals and UCI students across Orange County. Each high school and college student researcher selects and interviews professionals in career fields they aspire to enter, creating intergenerational connections rooted in shared goals and community identity. Through these dialogues, students capture personal stories that reflect pathways of growth, resilience, and belonging. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) serve as the connective framework, mapping each oral history to its geographic context—homes, campuses, workplaces, and community landmarks—revealing spatial patterns of mentorship, aspiration, and cultural presence. The Virtual Reality cohort then transforms these mapped narratives into immersive environments, allowing audiences to virtually “walk through” stories and experience how geography shapes identity and opportunity. Together, GIS, oral history, and VR bridge data, place, and lived experience to create a multidimensional archive of Asian American life in Orange County—one that celebrates youth perspectives, fosters cross-generational understanding, and reimagines how technology can amplify community storytelling.