Synergy between TROPOMI sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence and MODIS spectral reflectance for understanding the dynamics of gross primary productivity at Integrated Carbon Observatory System (ICOS) ecosystem flux sites

<p>An accurate estimation of vegetation gross primary productivity (GPP), which is the amount of carbon taken up by vegetation through photosynthesis for a given time and area, is critical for understanding terrestrial–atmosphere CO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: H. Balde, G. Hmimina, Y. Goulas, G. Latouche, K. Soudani
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2023-04-01
Series:Biogeosciences
Online Access:https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/20/1473/2023/bg-20-1473-2023.pdf
Description
Summary:<p>An accurate estimation of vegetation gross primary productivity (GPP), which is the amount of carbon taken up by vegetation through photosynthesis for a given time and area, is critical for understanding terrestrial–atmosphere CO<span class="inline-formula"><sub>2</sub></span> exchange processes and ecosystem functioning, as well as ecosystem responses and adaptations to climate change. Prior studies, based on ground, airborne, and satellite sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) observations, have recently revealed close relationships with GPP at different spatial and temporal scales and across different plant functional types (PFTs). However, questions remain regarding whether there is a unique relationship between SIF and GPP across different sites and PFTs and how we can improve GPP estimates using solely remotely sensed data. Using concurrent measurements of daily TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) SIF (daily SIFd); daily MODIS Terra and Aqua spectral reflectance; vegetation indices (VIs, notably normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), near-infrared reflectance of vegetation (NIRv), and photochemical reflectance index (PRI)); and daily tower-based GPP across eight major different PFTs, including mixed forests, deciduous broadleaf forests, croplands, evergreen broadleaf forests, evergreen needleleaf forests, grasslands, open shrubland, and wetlands, the strength of the relationships between tower-based GPP and SIF<span class="inline-formula"><sub>d</sub></span> at 40 Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) flux sites was investigated. The synergy between SIF<span class="inline-formula"><sub>d</sub></span> and MODIS-based reflectance (<span class="inline-formula"><i>R</i></span>) and VIs to improve GPP estimates using a data-driven modeling approach was also evaluated. The results revealed that the strength of the hyperbolic relationship between GPP and SIF<span class="inline-formula"><sub>d</sub></span> was strongly site-specific and PFT-dependent. Furthermore, the generalized linear model (GLM), fitted between SIF<span class="inline-formula"><sub>d</sub></span>, GPP, and site and vegetation type as categorical variables, further supported this site- and PFT-dependent relationship between GPP and SIF<span class="inline-formula"><sub>d</sub></span>. Using random forest (RF) regression models with GPP as output and the aforementioned variables as predictors (<span class="inline-formula"><i>R</i></span>, SIF<span class="inline-formula"><sub>d</sub></span>, and VIs), this study also showed that the spectral reflectance bands (RF-<span class="inline-formula"><i>R</i></span>) and SIF<span class="inline-formula"><sub>d</sub></span> plus spectral reflectance (RF-SIF-<span class="inline-formula"><i>R</i></span>) models explained over 80 % of the seasonal and interannual variations in GPP, whereas the SIF<span class="inline-formula"><sub>d</sub></span> plus VI (RF-SIF-VI) model reproduced only 75 % of the tower-based GPP variance. In addition, the relative variable importance of predictors of GPP demonstrated that the spectral reflectance bands in the near-infrared, red, and SIF<span class="inline-formula"><sub>d</sub></span> appeared as the most influential and dominant factors determining GPP predictions, indicating the importance of canopy structure, biochemical properties, and vegetation functioning on GPP estimates. Overall, this study provides insights into understanding the strength of the relationships between GPP and SIF and the use of spectral reflectance and SIF<span class="inline-formula"><sub>d</sub></span> to improve estimates of GPP across sites and PFTs.</p>
ISSN:1726-4170
1726-4189