Satellite-observed changes in vegetation sensitivities to surface soil moisture and total water storage variations since the 2011 Texas drought
We combine soil moisture (SM) data from AMSR-E and AMSR-2, and changes in terrestrial water storage (TWS) from time-variable gravity data from GRACE to delineate and characterize the evolution of drought and its impact on vegetation growth. GRACE-derived TWS provides spatially continuous observation...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2017-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa6965 |
| _version_ | 1827870949748244480 |
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| author | Geruo A Isabella Velicogna John S Kimball Jinyang Du Youngwook Kim Andreas Colliander Eni Njoku |
| author_facet | Geruo A Isabella Velicogna John S Kimball Jinyang Du Youngwook Kim Andreas Colliander Eni Njoku |
| author_sort | Geruo A |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We combine soil moisture (SM) data from AMSR-E and AMSR-2, and changes in terrestrial water storage (TWS) from time-variable gravity data from GRACE to delineate and characterize the evolution of drought and its impact on vegetation growth. GRACE-derived TWS provides spatially continuous observations of changes in overall water supply and regional drought extent, persistence and severity, while satellite-derived SM provides enhanced delineation of shallow-depth soil water supply. Together these data provide complementary metrics quantifying available plant water supply. We use these data to investigate the supply changes from water components at different depths in relation to satellite-based enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and gross primary productivity (GPP) from MODIS and solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) from GOME-2, during and following major drought events observed in the state of Texas, USA and its surrounding semiarid area for the past decade. We find that in normal years the spatial pattern of the vegetation–moisture relationship follows the gradient in mean annual precipitation. However since the 2011 hydrological drought, vegetation growth shows enhanced sensitivity to surface SM variations in the grassland area located in central Texas, implying that the grassland, although susceptible to drought, has the capacity for a speedy recovery. Vegetation dependency on TWS weakens in the shrub-dominated west and strengthens in the grassland and forest area spanning from central to eastern Texas, consistent with changes in water supply pattern. We find that in normal years GRACE TWS shows strong coupling and similar characteristic time scale to surface SM, while in drier years GRACE TWS manifests stronger persistence, implying longer recovery time and prolonged water supply constraint on vegetation growth. The synergistic combination of GRACE TWS and surface SM, along with remote-sensing vegetation observations provides new insights into drought impact on vegetation–moisture relationship, and unique information regarding vegetation resilience and the recovery of hydrological drought. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:03:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d3925f58b116496eb523e39a5cf7d9f9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:03:00Z |
| publishDate | 2017-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
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| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-d3925f58b116496eb523e39a5cf7d9f92023-08-09T14:33:27ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262017-01-0112505400610.1088/1748-9326/aa6965Satellite-observed changes in vegetation sensitivities to surface soil moisture and total water storage variations since the 2011 Texas droughtGeruo A0Isabella Velicogna1John S Kimball2Jinyang Du3Youngwook Kim4Andreas Colliander5Eni Njoku6Department of Earth System Science , University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States of America; Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.Department of Earth System Science , University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States of America; Jet Propulsion Laboratory , California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States of AmericaNumerical Terradynamic Simulation Group, College of Forestry & Conservation , University of Montana, Missoula, MT, United States of AmericaNumerical Terradynamic Simulation Group, College of Forestry & Conservation , University of Montana, Missoula, MT, United States of AmericaNumerical Terradynamic Simulation Group, College of Forestry & Conservation , University of Montana, Missoula, MT, United States of AmericaJet Propulsion Laboratory , California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States of AmericaJet Propulsion Laboratory , California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States of AmericaWe combine soil moisture (SM) data from AMSR-E and AMSR-2, and changes in terrestrial water storage (TWS) from time-variable gravity data from GRACE to delineate and characterize the evolution of drought and its impact on vegetation growth. GRACE-derived TWS provides spatially continuous observations of changes in overall water supply and regional drought extent, persistence and severity, while satellite-derived SM provides enhanced delineation of shallow-depth soil water supply. Together these data provide complementary metrics quantifying available plant water supply. We use these data to investigate the supply changes from water components at different depths in relation to satellite-based enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and gross primary productivity (GPP) from MODIS and solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) from GOME-2, during and following major drought events observed in the state of Texas, USA and its surrounding semiarid area for the past decade. We find that in normal years the spatial pattern of the vegetation–moisture relationship follows the gradient in mean annual precipitation. However since the 2011 hydrological drought, vegetation growth shows enhanced sensitivity to surface SM variations in the grassland area located in central Texas, implying that the grassland, although susceptible to drought, has the capacity for a speedy recovery. Vegetation dependency on TWS weakens in the shrub-dominated west and strengthens in the grassland and forest area spanning from central to eastern Texas, consistent with changes in water supply pattern. We find that in normal years GRACE TWS shows strong coupling and similar characteristic time scale to surface SM, while in drier years GRACE TWS manifests stronger persistence, implying longer recovery time and prolonged water supply constraint on vegetation growth. The synergistic combination of GRACE TWS and surface SM, along with remote-sensing vegetation observations provides new insights into drought impact on vegetation–moisture relationship, and unique information regarding vegetation resilience and the recovery of hydrological drought.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa6965droughtterrestrial water storagesoil moistureremote sensingsolar-induced fluorescencevegetation–moisture sensitivity |
| spellingShingle | Geruo A Isabella Velicogna John S Kimball Jinyang Du Youngwook Kim Andreas Colliander Eni Njoku Satellite-observed changes in vegetation sensitivities to surface soil moisture and total water storage variations since the 2011 Texas drought Environmental Research Letters drought terrestrial water storage soil moisture remote sensing solar-induced fluorescence vegetation–moisture sensitivity |
| title | Satellite-observed changes in vegetation sensitivities to surface soil moisture and total water storage variations since the 2011 Texas drought |
| title_full | Satellite-observed changes in vegetation sensitivities to surface soil moisture and total water storage variations since the 2011 Texas drought |
| title_fullStr | Satellite-observed changes in vegetation sensitivities to surface soil moisture and total water storage variations since the 2011 Texas drought |
| title_full_unstemmed | Satellite-observed changes in vegetation sensitivities to surface soil moisture and total water storage variations since the 2011 Texas drought |
| title_short | Satellite-observed changes in vegetation sensitivities to surface soil moisture and total water storage variations since the 2011 Texas drought |
| title_sort | satellite observed changes in vegetation sensitivities to surface soil moisture and total water storage variations since the 2011 texas drought |
| topic | drought terrestrial water storage soil moisture remote sensing solar-induced fluorescence vegetation–moisture sensitivity |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa6965 |
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