scholarly journals Global Vegetation Photosynthetic Phenology Products Based on MODIS Vegetation Greenness and Temperature: Modeling and Evaluation

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 5080
Author(s):  
Xiaojun Xu ◽  
Yan Tang ◽  
Yiling Qu ◽  
Zhongsheng Zhou ◽  
Junguo Hu

Land surface phenology (LSP) products that are derived from different data sources have different definitions and biophysical meanings. Discrepancies among these products and their linkages with carbon fluxes across plant functional types and climatic regions remain somewhat unclear. In this study, to differentiate LSP related to gross primary production (GPP) from LSP related to remote sensing data, we defined the former as vegetation photosynthetic phenology (VPP), including the starting and ending days of GPP (SOG and EOG, respectively). Specifically, we estimated VPP based on a combination of observed VPP from 145 flux-measured GPP sites together with the vegetation index and temperature data from MODIS products using multiple linear regression models. We then compared VPP estimates with MODIS LSP on a global scale. Our results show that the VPP provided better estimates of SOG and EOG than MODIS LSP, with a root mean square error (RMSE) for SOG of 12.7 days and a RMSE for EOG of 10.5 days. The RMSE was approximately three weeks for both SOG and EOG estimates of the non-forest type. Discrepancies between VPP and LSP estimates varied across plant functional types (PFTs) and climatic regions. A high correlation was observed between VPP and LSP estimates for deciduous forest. For most PFTs, using VPP estimates rather than LSP improved the estimation of GPP. This study presents a useful method for modeling global VPP, investigates in detail the discrepancies between VPP and LSP, and provides a more effective global vegetation phenology product for carbon cycle modeling than the existing ones.

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fan Liu ◽  
Chuankuan Wang ◽  
Xingchang Wang

Abstract Background Vegetation indices (VIs) by remote sensing are widely used as simple proxies of the gross primary production (GPP) of vegetation, but their performances in capturing the inter-annual variation (IAV) in GPP remain uncertain. Methods We evaluated the performances of various VIs in tracking the IAV in GPP estimated by eddy covariance in a temperate deciduous forest of Northeast China. The VIs assessed included the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), the enhanced vegetation index (EVI), and the near-infrared reflectance of vegetation (NIRv) obtained from tower-radiometers (broadband) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), respectively. Results We found that 25%–35% amplitude of the broadband EVI tracked the start of growing season derived by GPP (R2: 0.56–0.60, bias < 4 d), while 45% (or 50%) amplitudes of broadband (or MODIS) NDVI represented the end of growing season estimated by GPP (R2: 0.58–0.67, bias < 3 d). However, all the VIs failed to characterize the summer peaks of GPP. The growing-season integrals but not averaged values of the broadband NDVI, MODIS NIRv and EVI were robust surrogates of the IAV in GPP (R2: 0.40–0.67). Conclusion These findings illustrate that specific VIs are effective only to capture the GPP phenology but not the GPP peak, while the integral VIs have the potential to mirror the IAV in GPP.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. eaax1396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenping Yuan ◽  
Yi Zheng ◽  
Shilong Piao ◽  
Philippe Ciais ◽  
Danica Lombardozzi ◽  
...  

Atmospheric vapor pressure deficit (VPD) is a critical variable in determining plant photosynthesis. Synthesis of four global climate datasets reveals a sharp increase of VPD after the late 1990s. In response, the vegetation greening trend indicated by a satellite-derived vegetation index (GIMMS3g), which was evident before the late 1990s, was subsequently stalled or reversed. Terrestrial gross primary production derived from two satellite-based models (revised EC-LUE and MODIS) exhibits persistent and widespread decreases after the late 1990s due to increased VPD, which offset the positive CO2 fertilization effect. Six Earth system models have consistently projected continuous increases of VPD throughout the current century. Our results highlight that the impacts of VPD on vegetation growth should be adequately considered to assess ecosystem responses to future climate conditions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 680 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meng Guo ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
Shubo Huang ◽  
Lixiang Wen

Solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) is a novel approach to gain information about plant activity from remote sensing observations. However, there are currently no continuous SIF data produced at high spatial resolutions. Many previous studies have discussed the relationship between SIF and gross primary production (GPP) and showed a significant correlation between them, but few researchers have focused on forests, which are one the most important terrestrial ecosystems. This study takes Greater Khingan Mountains, a typical boreal forest in China, as an example to explore the feasibility of using MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) products and Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) SIF data to simulate continuous SIF at higher spatial resolutions. The results show that there is no significant correlation between SIF and MODIS GPP at a spatial resolution of 1 km; however, significant correlations between SIF and the enhanced vegetation index (EVI) were found during growing seasons. Furthermore, the broadleaf forest has a higher SIF than coniferous forest because of the difference in leaf and canopy bio-chemical and structural characteristic. When using MODIS EVI to model SIF, linear regression models show average performance (R2 = 0.58, Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) = 0.14 from Julian day 145 to 257) at a 16-day time scale. However, when using MODIS EVI and temperature, multiple regressions perform better (R2 = 0.71, RMSE = 0.13 from Julian day 145 to 241). An important contribution of this paper is the analysis of the relationships between SIF and vegetation indices at different spatial resolutions and the finding that the relationships became closer with a decrease in spatial resolution. From this research, we conclude that the SIF of the boreal forest investigated can mainly be explained by EVI and air temperature.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 2497
Author(s):  
Laura Recuero ◽  
Javier Litago ◽  
Jorge E. Pinzón ◽  
Margarita Huesca ◽  
Maria C. Moyano ◽  
...  

Vegetation seasonality assessment through remote sensing data is crucial to understand ecosystem responses to climatic variations and human activities at large-scales. Whereas the study of the timing of phenological events showed significant advances, their recurrence patterns at different periodicities has not been widely study, especially at global scale. In this work, we describe vegetation oscillations by a novel quantitative approach based on the spectral analysis of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) time series. A new set of global periodicity indicators permitted to identify different seasonal patterns regarding the intra-annual cycles (the number, amplitude, and stability) and to evaluate the existence of pluri-annual cycles, even in those regions with noisy or low NDVI. Most of vegetated land surface (93.18%) showed one intra-annual cycle whereas double and triple cycles were found in 5.58% of the land surface, mainly in tropical and arid regions along with agricultural areas. In only 1.24% of the pixels, the seasonality was not statistically significant. The highest values of amplitude and stability were found at high latitudes in the northern hemisphere whereas lowest values corresponded to tropical and arid regions, with the latter showing more pluri-annual cycles. The indicator maps compiled in this work provide highly relevant and practical information to advance in assessing global vegetation dynamics in the context of global change.


2006 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivek K. Arora ◽  
George J. Boer

Abstract The global distribution of vegetation is broadly determined by climate, and where bioclimatic parameters are favorable for several plant functional types (PFTs), by the competition between them. Most current dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) do not, however, explicitly simulate inter-PFT competition and instead determine the existence and fractional coverage of PFTs based on quasi-equilibrium climate–vegetation relationships. When competition is explicitly simulated, versions of Lotka–Volterra (LV) equations developed in the context of interaction between animal species are almost always used. These equations may, however, exhibit unrealistic behavior in some cases and do not, for example, allow the coexistence of different PFTs in equilibrium situations. Coexistence may, however, be obtained by introducing features and mechanisms such as temporal environmental variation and disturbance, among others. A generalized version of the competition equations is proposed that includes the LV equations as a special case, which successfully models competition for a range of climate and vegetation regimes and for which coexistence is a permissible equilibrium solution in the absence of additional mechanisms. The approach is tested for boreal forest, tropical forest, savanna, and temperate forest locations within the framework of the Canadian Terrestrial Ecosystem Model (CTEM) and successfully simulates the observed successional behavior and the observed near-equilibrium distribution of coexisting PFTs.


2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 10279-10309 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Kwon ◽  
J. Kim ◽  
J. Hong

Abstract. Considering the feedback loops in radiation, temperature, and soil moisture with alterations in rainfall patterns, the influence of the changing monsoon on net ecosystem CO2 exchange can be critical to the estimation of carbon balance in Asia. In this paper, we examined the eddy covariance CO2 fluxes observed from 2004 to 2008 in two major plant functional types in KoFlux, i.e., the Gwangneung deciduous forest (GDK) site and the Haenam farmland (HFK) site. The objectives of the study were to (1) quantify the net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE), ecosystem respiration (RE), and gross primary production (GPP), (2) examine their interannual patterns, and (3) assess the mechanism for the coupling of carbon and water exchange associated with the summer monsoon. The GDK site, which had a maximum leaf area index (LAI) of ~5, was on average a relatively weak carbon sink with NEE of −84 gC m−2 y−1, RE of 1028 gC m−2 y−1, and GPP of 1113 gC m−2 y−1. Despite about 20% larger GPP (of 1321 gC m−2 y−1) in comparison with the GDK site, the HFK site (with the maximum LAI of 3 to 4) was a weaker carbon sink with NEE of −58 gC m−2 y−1 because of greater RE of 1263 gC m−2 y−1. In both sites, the annual patterns of NEE and GPP had a striking "mid-season depression" each year with two distinctive peaks of different timing and magnitude, whereas RE did not. The mid-season depression at the GDK site occurred typically from early June to late August, coinciding with the season of summer monsoon when the solar radiation decreased substantially due to frequent rainfalls and cloudiness. At the HFK site, the mid-season depression began earlier in May and continued until the end of July due to land use management (e.g., crop rotation) in addition to such disturbances as summer monsoon and typhoons. Other flux observation sites in East Asia also show a decline in radiation but with a lesser degree during the monsoon season, resulting in less pronounced depression in NEE. In our study, however, the observed depression in NEE changed the forest and farmland from a carbon sink to a source in the middle of the growing season. Consequently, the annually integrated values of NEE lies on the low end of the range reported in the literature. Such a delicate coupling between carbon and water cycles may turn these ecosystems into a stronger carbon sink with the projected trends of less frequent but more intensive rainfalls in this region.


2020 ◽  
Vol 194 ◽  
pp. 05047
Author(s):  
Rong Liu ◽  
Fang Huang ◽  
Yue Ren

Ecosystem functional types (EFTs) are the patches of land surface showing similar in carbon dynamics. EFTs are not defined by the structure and composition of vegetation and represent the spatial heterogeneity of ecosystem functions. Identifying EFTs based on low-resolution satellite remote sensing data cannot satisfy the needs of fine-scale characterization of regional ecosystem functional patterns. Here, taking Zhenlai County, Northeast China as an example, the heterogeneity in ecosystem functions was characterized by identifying EFTs from Sentinel-2 time series data using ISODATA algorithm. Ecosystem functional attributes derived from dynamics of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), the fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FAPAR), and canopy water content (CWC) in the growing season were calculated. The correspondence analysis (CA) method was used to reveal relationships between the EFTs and land cover types. Our results showed that the nine selected remotely sensed variables indicating carbon and water flux of the regional ecosystems could be adopted in ecosystem functions classification. The obtained EFTs based on Sentinel-2 images reflected the internal structure of carbon balance well and the distribution pattern of ecosystem functional diversity a fine scale. This study helps to understand the functional heterogeneity pattern of temperate terrestrial ecosystems.


2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. P. Kushwaha ◽  
K. P. Singh

Patterns of leaf phenological diversity were documented in nine key tree species of a tropical deciduous forest in the Vindhyan region of India. Monthly leaf counts on 160 tagged twigs on ten individuals of each species were made through two annual cycles. Tree species exhibited a gradient of deciduousness (∼leafless duration), ranging from semi-evergreen species (entire population never becoming leafless) to 7-mo-deciduous species. The semi-evergreen species initiated leaf flush (bud break of vegetative bud) earlier around the spring equinox. In all deciduous tree species synchronous leaf-flush initiation, with low inter-annual variability, occurred during the hot dry summer (May–June, day temperature >40 °C), prior to the onset of the rainy season. Based on the quantification of leafless period, leaf-flush duration, and leaf strategy index (leaf-flush rate/leaf-fall rate, proposed in this study) in different species, four plant functional types were recognized: (a) semi-evergreen, spring flushing, showing leaf exchange, with mean leafless period 8 d, leaf-flush duration 6–7 mo and leaf strategy index <0.5 (Shorea robusta); (b) <2-mo-deciduous, summer flushing, leafless period 3–8 wk, leaf-flush duration 5–6 mo, and leaf strategy index >0.5−<0.7 (Anogeissus latifolia, Diospyros melanoxylon and Hardwickia binata); (c) 2–4-mo-deciduous, summer flushing, leafless period 2–3 mo, leaf-flush duration 4–5 mo, and leaf strategy index >0.8−<1.0 (Acacia catechu, Lagerstroemia parviflora and Terminalia tomentosa); and (d) >4-mo-deciduous, summer flushing, leafless period >4–7 mo, leaf-flush duration 3–4 mo, and leaf strategy index 1.0 (Boswellia serrata and Lannea coromandelica). Conspecific trees showed asynchrony with respect to leaf-flush completion, initiation and completion of leaf-fall, and extent of leafless period. Leaf strategy index (indicating rate of resource use and conservation) was strongly related with the leafless period in different species (r=0.82) and can serve as a useful index in leaf phenological studies and classification of plant functional types.


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