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Terrestrial Ecosystem Modeling Lab
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The lab uses simulations to understand how forests and farmland function and to explore the future of the climate.
AboutAbout the lab
Understanding the future of the global environment through land ecosystems.
The Terrestrial Ecosystem Modeling Lab studies how terrestrial ecosystems such as forests, grasslands, and farmland function, at scales ranging from a single site to continents and the entire globe.
Terrestrial ecosystems exchange heat, water, carbon, and other substances with the atmosphere.
Centered on simulation models and also using field observations, remote sensing, and statistical data, the lab studies the relationship between climate change and ecosystems.
Undergraduates from the Department of Bioenvironmental Engineering are assigned to the lab in their third year, and master's and doctoral students are assigned from the Graduate School of Global Food Resources.
Key terms
- Remote sensing
- Technology that measures the condition of the ground surface and plants in a distant location from satellites, aircraft, and the like
- Chlorophyll fluorescence
- A phenomenon in which a leaf emits, as faint red light, part of the light it could not use for photosynthesis
- Ecosystem model
- A computer-based system that expresses plant photosynthesis, decomposition in soil, and similar processes as equations to reproduce the inflow and outflow of materials in an ecosystem
NewsLab news
Announced that forests recovering from typhoon disturbance absorb carbon with a "delayed acceleration"
A doctoral student received the Best Poster Award (2nd Prize) at the ISEM Global Conference 2025
Announced the development of a model for predicting acorn production
ResearchResearch themes
With terrestrial ecosystem modeling as its core technique, the lab studies the interactions between terrestrial ecosystems and the environment. By combining ecosystem models, observations, and remote sensing, it aims to clarify material cycling in ecosystems.
*Illustrative imageCapturing photosynthesis with chlorophyll fluorescence
The lab measures chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) in various ecosystems such as paddy fields and forests, and studies its relationship with ecosystem photosynthesis. It is also developing models that estimate CO2 uptake from SIF, jointly with the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology and the National Institute for Environmental Studies.
*Illustrative imageModels of ecosystem material cycling and forest change
Using the ecosystem model VISIT, the lab studies the relationship between climate change and the cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in terrestrial ecosystems. It is also conducting forest research with SEIB-DGVM, an individual-based dynamic global vegetation model, jointly with the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.
*Illustrative imageMeasuring forests with remote sensing and AI
By applying machine learning to airborne laser scanning data, the lab maps forest aboveground biomass and other variables at high resolution from satellite data and other sources. It plans to extend this to identifying tree mortality and tree species.
*Illustrative imageReconstructing past crop yields and predicting future ones
By combining prefecture-level agricultural statistics, cultivation trials at agricultural experiment stations, and crop yield models, the lab studies how crop varieties, fertilizer, and climate relate to crop yield. The goal is to provide basic data for considering adaptation measures that avoid yield losses from future climate change.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Terrestrial Ecosystem Modeling Lab consist of faculty members, academic researchers, postdoctoral researchers, technical assistants, doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students, and research students.As of 2026
- ProfessorTomomichi Kato
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Global Vegetation” Image Credit: NASA / Public domain (cropped)
- Capturing photosynthesis with chlorophyll fluorescence: “Chlorophyll fluorescence in soy leaf” Ihor Panas / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Models of ecosystem material cycling and forest change: “Mountain Pine Beetle attacked forest ( )” UBC Micrometeorology from Vancouver, Canada / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Measuring forests with remote sensing and AI: “California LiDAR Diablo Canyon Road” Rebecca equator / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Reconstructing past crop yields and predicting future ones: “Rice Fields Before Harvest in Autumn Hokkaido Japan” Sgroey / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (生態環境物理学研究室): “Kushiro Marsh, Shibecha” Kzaral / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (生物生産応用工学研究室): “Installation of soil sensors” UBC Micrometeorology from Vancouver, Canada / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (農業土木学研究室): “Rural seanery of Ogata Villaege 20200906” 掬茶 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (土壌保全学研究室): “Soil Profile Containing an Argillic Horizon” Cjrufe / CC0 (cropped)
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