Satellite maps are giving ecologists a new way to see the hidden complexity of landscapes, from the steep mountain ridges of California to the rain-soaked forests of Hawai‘i and the frozen tundra of Alaska. In a new study, researchers at Michigan State University and collaborating institutions have assembled detailed measures of elevation, temperature and precipitation for 47 sites within the U.S. National Ecological Observatory Network, or NEON. Their goal is to help scientists move beyond simplistic environmental averages and better understand the conditions that determine where plants and animals can survive.
The work combines Earth-observing satellite data with intensive field observations collected at NEON research sites across the United States. NEON is a 30-year ecological monitoring project designed to track biological and environmental change at 81 locations, ranging from Florida’s Everglades to ecosystems hundreds of miles above the Arctic Circle. At these sites, researchers collect information on plants, insects, birds, soil and climate. The new dataset adds a spatially detailed view of the surrounding terrain and atmospheric conditions, allowing scientists to connect what happens on the ground with the broader landscape visible from space.
The satellite measurements originated with the space shuttle Endeavour’s Shuttle Radar Topography Mission in 2000. During its 11-day mission, Endeavour orbited Earth 16 times per day and gathered more than a trillion elevation measurements. The mission produced approximately 12.3 terabytes of data, creating one of the most detailed global maps of Earth’s surface available at the time. Since then, additional satellites have recorded environmental variables including temperature, rainfall, sea level, carbon dioxide, snow cover, wind speed and airborne dust. These observations now provide an enormous reservoir of information, but accessing and processing it can be a major obstacle for ecologists.
“We have so much satellite-based data now, but ecologists receive very little training on how to work with it,” said Kelly Kapsar, a postdoctoral associate in Michigan State University’s Spatial and Community Ecology Lab. Satellite datasets can contain hundreds of gigabytes and thousands of separate layers. Turning those raw measurements into usable ecological variables often requires specialized knowledge of remote sensing, geographic information systems, high-performance computing and statistical analysis. The Michigan State team processed the data using the university’s High Performance Computing Cluster, then converted the results into metrics that researchers can apply directly to ecological studies.
A central problem addressed by the study is the widespread use of averages to describe environmental conditions. An average elevation of 7,050 feet at a Sierra Nevada field site, for example, conceals a landscape that may include 10,000-foot peaks, steep slopes, valleys and open meadows. Two locations can have the same mean temperature or annual rainfall while offering entirely different habitats. A single number cannot show whether water arrives steadily throughout the year or in short, intense storms, nor can it reveal whether a landscape is smooth, rugged, fragmented or sharply divided into contrasting microhabitats.
The researchers describe this environmental variation as “geodiversity.” The concept includes the physical and climatic differences that occur across a landscape, such as changes in elevation, slope, surface roughness, temperature and precipitation. These differences can shape biodiversity by creating multiple ecological niches within a relatively small area. A vole, beetle or ground-dwelling bird does not experience a landscape as an average value. Instead, it encounters cliffs, ridges, sheltered hollows, exposed slopes and patches of vegetation that may determine whether it can move, feed, hide or reproduce.
Climate can become equally complex over short distances. Near Las Cruces, New Mexico, annual precipitation at a NEON site remains close to 11 inches, while rainfall at a site in Hawai‘i can vary from approximately 80 to 160 inches. Topography and vegetation can further modify local conditions by altering shade, wind, soil moisture and heat. These interactions produce microclimates—small areas with distinct environmental conditions where species may thrive even when the surrounding region appears unsuitable. By measuring variation rather than only central tendencies, researchers can begin to identify these ecological refuges and stress zones.
To capture that complexity, the team calculated statistical measures describing how “rough” or “smooth” elevation, temperature and precipitation are across multiple spatial scales. The metrics were generated with geodiv, an open-source computer program developed by Phoebe Zarnetske, Kyla Dahlin and colleagues. Originally inspired by methods used in surface metrology, the approach quantifies patterns and variation in environmental surfaces. The same landscape can look very different when examined across a few meters, several kilometers or an entire field site, so the researchers designed the workflow to preserve information across scales.
The resulting study is both a data resource and a practical guide for scientists who want to analyze geodiversity elsewhere. By providing ready-to-use climate and elevation metrics for NEON sites, the researchers hope to reduce the technical barrier that has kept many ecologists from exploiting satellite observations. The workflow can also be adapted to other regions and resolutions, making it possible to compare habitats across continents or investigate fine-scale conditions around individual field sites. “The idea is to take the satellite’s perspective from way up high in the sky, and NEON’s intensive data collection on the ground—and bring them together to get the best of both worlds,” Kapsar said.
That combination could improve models used to predict how species respond to climate change, habitat loss and extreme weather. Instead of asking where a species is likely to occur under an average temperature or rainfall scenario, researchers may be able to identify the precise combinations of terrain and microclimate that support it. Such information could help reveal hidden refuges, anticipate range shifts and guide conservation decisions. The researchers emphasize that geodiversity is not a replacement for biological observations, but a way to give those observations greater environmental context. Their findings and adaptable workflow establish a bridge between the planet-scale measurements collected by satellites and the detailed ecological stories unfolding on the ground.
Subject of Research: Data/statistical analysis
Article Title: Multi-scale environmental geodiversity: data for the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) with an adaptable workflow
News Publication Date: 15-Jul-2026
Web References:
https://www.neonscience.org/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-026-07613-5
https://www.communityecologylab.com/
https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/2041-210X.13677
References:
Kapsar, K., Kounta, L., Bills, P., Smith, A., Record, S., Strecker, A., Baiser, B. and Zarnetske, P. L. “Multi-scale environmental geodiversity: data for the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) with an adaptable workflow.” Scientific Data, 15 July 2026. DOI: 10.1038/s41597-026-07613-5.
Image Credits: Courtesy of Kelly Kapsar, Michigan State University
Keywords: geodiversity, satellite data, ecological monitoring, National Ecological Observatory Network, NEON, climate variation, elevation mapping, microclimates, biodiversity, conservation science, remote sensing, ecological modeling
