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Nuwanthi Arampola

Candidature

PhD Candidate

Thesis Title

Identifying  drivers and mechanisms of drought-related tree morality

Project Summary

Nuwanthi ArampolaTree mortality, intensified by extreme weather events like droughts and heat waves, is a critical global concern. Despite advancements in detecting tree dieback through high-resolution remote sensing and initiatives like the Dead Tree Detective Citizen Science project, identifying precise factors that lead to tree mortality remains challenging. This gap in understanding complicates efforts to build predictive models essential for anticipating dieback events and assessing impacts on the carbon cycle.
This project leverages cutting-edge machine learning and spatio-temporal analysis techniques, combined with ecophysiological modeling, to investigate the causes of tree mortality in diverse environments across Australia and Scandinavia. By linking field observations with land surface remote sensing and meteorological data, we aim to clarify how climate influences mortality patterns, considering the ecological and spatial contexts of affected regions.

Publication

Arampola N, Medlyn B, Hislop S, Choat B, Olin S, Mansourian A, Zhao P, Smith B, (2025) 'Impacts of the 2019–2020 Black Summer Drought on Eastern Australian Forests', Remote Sensing, vol.17, no.5, Article no.910

Supervisors

Professor Benjamin Smith, Distinguished Professor Belinda Medlyn, Professor Brendan Choat, Dr Sam Hislop (RMIT university), Professor Ali Mansourian (Lund University, Sweden), Dr Stefan Olin (Lund University, Sweden), Dr Pengxiang Zhao (Lund University, Sweden)