scholarly journals Upscaling from Instantaneous to Daily Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR) for Satellite Products

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (13) ◽  
pp. 2083
Author(s):  
Siyuan Chen ◽  
Liangyun Liu ◽  
Xue He ◽  
Zhigang Liu ◽  
Dailiang Peng

The fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FAPAR) is an essential climate variable (ECV) widely used for various ecological and climate models. However, all the current FAPAR satellite products correspond to instantaneous FAPAR values acquired at the satellite transit time only, which cannot represent the variations in photosynthetic processes over the diurnal period. Most studies have directly used the instantaneous FAPAR as a reasonable approximation of the daily integrated value. However, clearly, FAPAR varies a lot according to the weather conditions and amount of incoming radiation. In this paper, a temporal upscaling method based on the cosine of the solar zenith angle (SZA) at local noon ( c o s ( S Z A n o o n ) ) is proposed for converting instantaneous FAPAR to daily integrated FAPAR. First, the diurnal variations in FAPAR were investigated using PROSAIL (a model of Leaf Optical Properties Spectra (PROSPECT) integrating a canopy radiative transfer model (Scattering from Arbitrarily Inclined Leaves, SAIL)) simulations with different leaf area index (LAI) values corresponding to different latitudes. It was found that the instantaneous black sky FAPAR at 09:30 AM provided a good approximation for the daily integrated black sky FAPAR; this gave the highest correlation (R2 = 0.995) and lowest Root Mean Square Error (RMSE = 0.013) among the instantaneous black sky FAPAR values observed at different times. Secondly, the difference between the instantaneous black sky FAPAR values acquired at different times and the daily integrated black sky FAPAR was analyzed; this could be accurately modelled using the cosine value of solar zenith angle at local noon ( c o s ( S Z A n o o n ) ) for a given vegetation scene. Therefore, a temporal upscaling method for typical satellite products was proposed using a cos(SZA)-based upscaling model. Finally, the proposed cos(SZA)-based upscaling model was validated using both the PROSAIL simulated data and the field measurements. The validated results indicated that the upscaled daily black sky FAPAR was highly consistent with the daily integrated black sky FAPAR, giving very high mean R2 values (0.998, 0.972), low RMSEs (0.007, 0.014), and low rMAEs (0.596%, 1.378%) for the simulations and the field measurements, respectively. Consequently, the cos(SZA)-based method performs well for upscaling the instantaneous black sky FAPAR to its daily value, which is a simple but extremely important approach for satellite remote sensing applications related to FAPAR.

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 1695-1700
Author(s):  
Peter M. Lafleur ◽  
Andrew G. Farnsworth

We measured interaction of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) at a staghorn sumac ( Rhus typhina L.) canopy near Peterborough, Ontario, during summer 2006. Measurements included above-canopy and below-canopy incoming and reflected PAR fluxes and leaf area index (LAI). The ratio of down-welling PAR below the canopy to the flux incident at the top of the canopy (τ) and proportion of incident PAR absorbed by the canopy (fPAR), were calculated. While the canopy was leafless, the sumac stems absorb 10%–20% of incident PAR. LAI increased rapidly during the month of June, and correspondingly τ decreased rapidly while fPAR increased rapidly. Mean values of τ and fPAR at maximum LAI were 0.38±0.09 (SD) and 0.60 ±0.04, respectively. Neither variable showed a relationship with solar zenith angle. We present a simple idealized model of PAR interaction with sumac. Although only one stand was studied, we hypothesize that these results may be more widely applicable to other mature sumac stands.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1002
Author(s):  
Shihao Tian ◽  
Guang Zheng ◽  
Jan U. Eitel ◽  
Qian Zhang

Accurately identifying sunlit and shaded leaves using process-based ecological models can improve the simulation accuracy of forest photosynthetic rates and potential carbon sequestration capacity. However, it is still challenging to characterize their three dimensional (3-D) spatiotemporal distributions due to the complex structure. In this study, we developed a light detection and ranging (lidar)-based approach to map the spatiotemporal distribution patterns of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and sunlit and shaded leaves within forest canopies. By using both terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and unmanned aerial vehicle-based lidar system (UAV-LS), we analyzed the influences of different scanning geometries and associated point densities on the separation of sunlit and shaded leaves. Moreover, we further investigated the effects of woody materials and penumbra sizes on identifying sunlit and shaded leaves by separating the foliage and woody materials and estimating the penumbras of sunlit leaves. Our results showed that: (1) The proposed lidar-based PAR model could well capture the variations of field-based pyranometer measurements using fused point data by combining UAV-LS and TLS data (mean R-square = 0.88, mean root mean square error (RMSE) = 155.5 μmol·m−2·s−1, p < 0.01). The separate UAV-LS and TLS-based fractions of sunlit leaves were averagely overestimated by 34.3% and 21.6% when compared to the fused point data due to their different coverages and comprehensiveness. (2) The woody materials showed different effects on sunlit leaf fraction estimations for forest overstory and understory due to the variations of solar zenith angle and tree spatial distribution patterns. The most noticeable differences (i.e., −36.4%) between the sunlit leaf fraction before and after removing woody materials were observed around noon, with a small solar zenith angle and low-density forest stand. (3) The penumbra effects were seen to increase the sunlit leaf fraction in the lower canopy by introducing direct solar radiation, and it should be considered when using 3-D structural information from lidar to identify sunlit and shaded leaves.


2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna M. Jarocińska ◽  
Monika Kacprzyk ◽  
Adriana Marcinkowska-Ochtyra ◽  
Adrian Ochtyra ◽  
Bogdan Zagajewski ◽  
...  

Abstract Information about vegetation condition is needed for the effective management of natural resources and the estimation of the effectiveness of nature conservation. The aim of the study was to analyse the condition of non-forest mountain communities: synanthropic communities and natural grasslands. UNESCO’s M&B Karkonosze Transboundary Biosphere Reserve was selected as the research area. The analysis was based on 40 field test polygons and APEX hyperspectral images. The field measurements allowed the collection of biophysical parameters - Leaf Area Index (LAI), fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fAPAR) and chlorophyll content - which were correlated with vegetation indices calculated using the APEX images. Correlations were observed between the vegetation indices (general condition, plant structure) and total area of leaves (LAI), as well as fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fAPAR). The outcomes show that the non-forest communities in the Karkonosze are in good condition, with the synanthropic communities characterised by better condition compared to the natural communities.


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