SMEAR Estonia & Järvselja Experimental Forest

Research topics in forest and atmosphere studies

Forests are constantly changing. Temperature and moisture vary through the day, gases move between the soil, vegetation and atmosphere, harvesting changes the landscape, and the area represented by a measurement can change with the wind.

These bachelor’s and master’s thesis topics offer different ways to investigate those processes — in the forest, through long-term measurements, with maps and satellite observations, or by working with environmental data.

Browse thesis topics Before choosing a topic

In the forestmeasure CO₂ where the processes happen

Through timefollow changing weather, seasons and management

At the towercompare local measurements with continuous observations

Across the landscapeask how far a local measurement can represent the forest

The scientific problem

How do we understand a forest that is always changing?

A forest looks like one place, but conditions can change over only a few metres and over the course of a single day. Temperature and moisture change, gases move through the soil, vegetation and atmosphere, and forest management creates new edges, openings and stages of recovery.

There are many ways to study these changes. A chamber tells us what is happening at one small patch of ground. Sensors can follow local conditions through time. Measurements at different heights show what is happening within and above the canopy. A tower measures exchange over a larger area, while maps and remote sensing help us explore patterns across the surrounding landscape.

Each perspective can lead to its own question. They can also meet in unexpected ways: something found in years of data may send us back into the forest, a field observation may help explain a pattern in the tower measurements, and a map may reveal a place worth visiting.

The research environment

A place for forest and atmosphere research

Järvselja

Järvselja is a small village in southeast Estonia, surrounded by forests with a long history of forestry teaching, research and experimental work.

Much of this work is connected with the Järvselja Training and Experimental Forest Centre (Järvselja Õppe- ja Katsemetskond). The research environment includes forests of different ages and management histories, from mature stands to younger forest, recently harvested areas, forest edges and sites at different stages of regeneration.

For a student, this means that quite different forest conditions can be reached within the same research area. A thesis might involve collecting new measurements in the forest, working with observations that already exist, or combining the two.

SMEAR Estonia

The SMEAR Estonia research station is located within this research environment. SMEAR stands for Station for Measuring Ecosystem–Atmosphere Relations.

SMEAR brings together continuous measurements of the forest and atmosphere over long periods. At Järvselja, these include meteorological conditions, atmospheric composition, ecosystem–atmosphere exchange and observations made at different heights.

These long records provide context for student fieldwork. Measurements collected during an afternoon or a night in the forest can be studied together with the conditions leading up to them, changes during the following hours, and observations from other seasons or years.

Looking at the forest from above

Field measurements give us detailed information about particular places. Maps, satellite images and LiDAR extend that view across the surrounding forest, showing patterns in vegetation, canopy structure, disturbance and recovery that would be difficult to observe from the ground alone.

These observations raise questions of their own. Can changes visible from space help explain something measured on the forest floor? Can they show how a clear-cut develops over several years? What does the landscape look like inside the changing area represented by the tower?

A thesis can follow these patterns through pixels and maps, field measurements, or a combination of both.

Find your question

Thesis topics

Browse by degree level, method or theme. Each topic starts with a question and a glimpse of what doing the work might actually feel like; open it for the research idea, likely work and skills involved.

You don't need to come with a finished idea

Maybe one of the topics below already sounds like you. Maybe you are interested in fieldwork, maps, sensors, atmospheric measurements or learning to work with data and do not yet know what the research question should be.

That's fine. We can find the question from there.

Core topics require no chamber construction or mesh experiment.

Getting started

What is already here?

You will not necessarily use all of these. What makes sense depends on the question you choose, the field season, permissions and the equipment available at the time.

Places to measure

Established study areas and contrasting forest conditions, with possibilities ranging from mature stands to clear-cuts, edges and regenerating forest.

Long-term observations

Relevant SMEAR Estonia measurements may provide the weather and atmospheric context around your own observations, subject to data availability and permissions.

Field measurements

Depending on the project, this may include manual CO₂ chambers, environmental sensors and coordinated measurements with other students.

Forest and spatial data

Some questions can draw on forest information, management history, maps, flux footprints, satellite observations or LiDAR where suitable data are available.

Methods and supervision

You can learn the field protocol, data handling and analysis needed for your own question with guidance from the supervisory team.

Other students

Some projects may share sites or measurement campaigns. Your thesis still keeps its own question, but you do not always have to collect everything alone.

After choosing a topic

You found something interesting. What happens next?

The topic cards are starting points. The final question develops through discussion and should fit your interests, the research happening here, the data and equipment available, and the time you have for the thesis.

We start with a conversation

We first meet and talk about what caught your attention. It might be the scientific question, a particular method, a place you would like to work, or simply the thought of spending more time in the forest — or more time with data.

Together, we shape the idea into a project that connects your interests with the research questions, expertise and opportunities available here. The thesis you finally work on may therefore look a little different from the topic you first clicked on.

Turning the idea into a research project

Once we have a direction, we work through the pieces needed to make the question answerable and the project realistic.

A question worth answering

We define the research problem, decide what you want to find out, and turn that into a clear objective and a small number of answerable research questions or hypotheses.

What we already know

You get to know the scientific literature around your question. It helps define the important concepts, shows what others have found, and makes it clearer where your own work fits.

A realistic way to answer it

We decide what data are needed and how they can be collected or selected. This may mean choosing forest stands and measurement locations, selecting periods from existing observations, defining satellite data or spatial resolution, and planning suitable comparisons and replication.

Measurements we can trust

You learn to document measurements and procedures, work with calibration and quality information where relevant, make transparent decisions about data exclusions, and consider permissions, field safety and responsible data use.

Making sense of what you find

The analysis follows the question. We choose methods that can answer it, examine uncertainty and limitations, and compare the results with previous research. Unexpected results are part of the process and can lead to new questions.

Telling the story clearly

The thesis should make it easy to follow what you asked, what you did, what you found and what it means. You will follow the formatting and referencing requirements of your own programme and prepare to discuss and defend your work.

How big should the project be?

The right scope depends on the degree, the question and the time available.

Bachelor's thesis

A bachelor's project usually works best with one focused question and a clearly bounded piece of fieldwork or data analysis. The aim is to answer a manageable question carefully and well.

Master's thesis

A master's project gives more room to follow a question further. It may combine several types of observations, use more demanding analysis, examine uncertainty, or test whether a relationship or method still works under different conditions.

Your programme rules still apply

Thesis length, formatting, referencing, registration and defence requirements depend on the university, institute and curriculum in which you are enrolled. We check the relevant requirements when shaping the final project.

Background

Starting literature

These papers and guidance documents explain the main measurement and analysis ideas used on this page. They are a starting point only; each thesis will need literature specific to its final question and methods.

Representativeness of eddy-covariance flux footprints for areas surrounding AmeriFlux sites

Chu, H., Luo, X., Ouyang, Z., et al. (2021). Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 301–302, 108350.

Relevant here: full two-dimensional footprint weighting, target-area comparisons, temporal footprint climatologies, and representativeness metrics.

Open DOI

Flux footprints: A critical link to bridge eddy-covariance measurements with models, remote sensing, and other observations

Chu, H., Metzger, S., Ouyang, Z., et al. (2026). Global Change Biology, 32, e70887.

Relevant here: footprint-weighted remote sensing, spatial and temporal scale matching, fine-grid integration, data fusion, model benchmarking, and interpretation of heterogeneous tower source areas.

Open DOI

Effects of clearcutting and girdling on soil respiration and fluxes of dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen in a Japanese cedar plantation

Fujii, K., Funakawa, S., Hayakawa, C., & Kosaki, T. (2021). Forest Ecology and Management, 498, 119520.

Relevant here: the optional Forestry Station module linking post-harvest CO₂, dissolved carbon, dissolved nitrogen, nitrate, litter, residues, and water movement.

Open DOI

A simple two-dimensional parameterisation for flux footprint prediction

Kljun, N., Calanca, P., Rotach, M. W., & Schmid, H. P. (2015). Geoscientific Model Development, 8, 3695–3713.

Relevant here: the footprint calculation method used in several of the possible topics.

Open DOI

Introduction of a guideline for measurements of greenhouse gas fluxes from soils using non-steady-state chambers

Maier, M., Weber, T. K. D., Fiedler, J., et al. (2022). Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, 185, 447–461.

Relevant here: chamber study planning, spatial and temporal replication, auxiliary variables, flux calculation, quality control, metadata, and uncertainty.

Open DOI

Partitioning of forest floor CO₂ emissions reveals the belowground interactions between different plant groups in a Scots pine stand in southern Finland

Ryhti, K., Kulmala, L., Pumpanen, J., et al. (2021). Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 297, 108266.

Relevant here: the ecological basis of forest-floor respiration and interactions among roots, vegetation, fungi, and decomposition. The Järvselja topics do not reproduce its mesh treatments.

Open DOI

Unsupervised cluster analysis of eddy covariance flux footprints from SMEAR Estonia and integration with forest growth data

Thapa Magar, A., Krasnov, D., Padari, A., Mercuri, E. G. F., & Noe, S. M. (2025). Geomatics, 5, 70.

Relevant here: SMEAR Estonia footprint-peak clusters, exploratory hotspot targeting, and integration with forest inventory and growth information.

Open DOI

Observations of ozone depletion events in a Finnish boreal forest

Chen, X., Quéléver, L. L. J., Fung, P. L., et al. (2018). Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 18, 49–63.

Relevant here: the transferable multi-height profile approach: identifying near-surface, gradient-profile, and full-profile atmospheric states and relating them to radiation, humidity, wind, friction velocity, temperature gradients, atmospheric stability, season, and time of day. The Järvselja topics adapt this analytical idea to CO₂ and do not assume that ozone-depletion chemistry applies to CO₂.

Open DOI

Graduation Thesis Requirements and Procedure for Defence in the Institute of Education

University of Tartu Institute of Education. (2025). Institutional graduation thesis requirements and appendices.

Relevant here: project readiness, research problem and objective, research questions, method justification, quality assurance, ethics, literature synthesis, academic writing, limitations, and defence preparation. Formal applicability depends on the student's curriculum.

Supplied institutional document

SMEAR concept and station network

GlobalSMEAR and Estonian University of Life Sciences. Official research-infrastructure and station information, accessed September 2026.

Relevant here: background on the SMEAR concept, SMEAR Estonia within GlobalSMEAR, and the long-term observations available at the station.

Concept · Network · SMEAR Estonia