scholarly journals The importance of micrometeorological variations for photosynthesis and transpiration in a boreal coniferous forest

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 12441-12485
Author(s):  
G. Schurgers ◽  
F. Lagergren ◽  
M. Mölder ◽  
A. Lindroth

Abstract. Plant canopies affect the canopy micrometeorology, and thereby alter canopy exchange processes. For the simulation of these exchange processes on a regional or global scale, large-scale vegetation models often assume homogeneous environmental conditions within the canopy. In this study, we address the importance of vertical variations in light, temperature, CO2 concentration and humidity within the canopy for photosynthesis and transpiration of a boreal coniferous forest in central Sweden. A leaf-level photosynthesis-stomatal conductance model was used for aggregating these processes to canopy level while applying the within-canopy distributions of these driving variables. The simulation model showed good agreement with eddy covariance-derived gross primary production (GPP) estimates on daily and annual timescales, and showed a reasonable agreement between transpiration and observed H2O fluxes, where discrepancies are largely attributable to a lack of forest floor evaporation in the model. Simulations in which vertical heterogeneity was artificially suppressed revealed that the vertical distribution of light is the driver of vertical heterogeneity. Despite large differences between above-canopy and within canopy humidity, and despite large gradients in CO2 concentration during early morning hours after nights with stable conditions, neither humidity nor CO2 played an important role for vertical heterogeneity of photosynthesis and transpiration.

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 237-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Schurgers ◽  
F. Lagergren ◽  
M. Mölder ◽  
A. Lindroth

Abstract. Plant canopies affect the canopy micrometeorology, and thereby alter canopy exchange processes. For the simulation of these exchange processes on a regional or global scale, large-scale vegetation models often assume homogeneous environmental conditions within the canopy. In this study, we address the importance of vertical variations in light, temperature, CO2 concentration and humidity within the canopy for fluxes of photosynthesis and transpiration of a boreal coniferous forest in central Sweden. A leaf-level photosynthesis-stomatal conductance model was used for aggregating these processes to canopy level while applying the within-canopy distributions of these driving variables. The simulation model showed good agreement with eddy covariance-derived gross primary production (GPP) estimates on daily and annual timescales, and showed a reasonable agreement between transpiration and observed H2O fluxes, where discrepancies are largely attributable to a lack of forest floor evaporation in the model. Simulations in which vertical heterogeneity was artificially suppressed revealed that the vertical distribution of light is the driver of vertical heterogeneity. Despite large differences between above-canopy and within-canopy humidity, and despite large gradients in CO2 concentration during early morning hours after nights with stable conditions, neither humidity nor CO2 played an important role for vertical heterogeneity of photosynthesis and transpiration.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bao-Lin Xue ◽  
Qinghua Guo ◽  
Tianyu Hu ◽  
Yongcai Wang ◽  
Shengli Tao ◽  
...  

Abstract. Dynamic global vegetation models are useful tools for the simulation of carbon dynamics on regional and global scales. However, even the most validated models are usually hampered by the poor availability of global biomass data in the model validation, especially on regional/global scales. Here, taking the integrated biosphere simulator model (IBIS) as an example, we evaluated the modeled carbon dynamics, including gross primary production (GPP) and potential above-ground biomass (AGB), on the global scale. The IBIS model was constrained by both in situ GPP and plot-level AGB data collected from the literature. Independent validation showed that IBIS could reproduce GPP and evapotranspiration with acceptable accuracy at site and global levels. On the global scale, the IBIS-simulated total AGB was similar to those obtained in other studies. However, discrepancies were observed between the model-derived and observed spatial patterns of AGB for Amazonian forests. The differences among the AGB spatial patterns were mainly caused by the single-parameter set of the model used. This study showed that different meteorological inputs can also introduce substantial differences in AGB on the global scale. Further analysis showed that this difference is small compared with parameter-induced differences. The conclusions of our research highlight the necessity of considering the heterogeneity of key model physiological parameters in modeling global AGB. The research also shows that to simulate large-scale carbon dynamics, both carbon flux and AGB data are necessary to constrain the model. The main conclusions of our research will help to improve model simulations of global carbon cycles.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 1969-1987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tea Thum ◽  
Sönke Zaehle ◽  
Philipp Köhler ◽  
Tuula Aalto ◽  
Mika Aurela ◽  
...  

Abstract. Recent satellite observations of sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) are thought to provide a large-scale proxy for gross primary production (GPP), thus providing a new way to assess the performance of land surface models (LSMs). In this study, we assessed how well SIF is able to predict GPP in the Fenno-Scandinavian region and what potential limitations for its application exist. We implemented a SIF model into the JSBACH LSM and used active leaf-level chlorophyll fluorescence measurements (Chl F) to evaluate the performance of the SIF module at a coniferous forest at Hyytiälä, Finland. We also compared simulated GPP and SIF at four Finnish micrometeorological flux measurement sites to observed GPP as well as to satellite-observed SIF. Finally, we conducted a regional model simulation for the Fenno-Scandinavian region with JSBACH and compared the results to SIF retrievals from the GOME-2 (Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2) space-borne spectrometer and to observation-based regional GPP estimates. Both observations and simulations revealed that SIF can be used to estimate GPP at both site and regional scales. At regional scale the model was able to simulate observed SIF averaged over 5 years with r2 of 0.86. The GOME-2-based SIF was a better proxy for GPP than the remotely sensed fAPAR (fraction of absorbed photosynthetic active radiation by vegetation). The observed SIF captured the seasonality of the photosynthesis at site scale and showed feasibility for use in improving of model seasonality at site and regional scale.


2005 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 1033-1065 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Duyzer ◽  
K. Pilegaard ◽  
D. Simpson ◽  
H. Weststrate ◽  
S. Walton

Abstract. A simple model (2layer) was constructed that describes the exchange of the reactive gases NO, NO2 and O3 between forest and the atmosphere. The model uses standard equations to describe exchange processes and uptake of gases. It also takes into account reactions taking place in the trunk space between NO and O3 and photolysis of NO2. All equations are solved analytically leading to a scheme efficient enough to allow implementation in a large scale dispersion model such as the EMEP model. The model is tested on two comprehensive datasets obtained in a coniferous forest and a deciduous forest. The model calculations of NO2 and O3 fluxes to the forest were compared with observations of these fluxes. Although the comparison is often not perfect some of the striking features of the observed fluxes i.e. upward fluxes of NO2 were simulated quite well. The impact of chemical reactions between O3, NO and NO2 in the trunk space appear to have a significant effect on the deposition rate of O2. This is especially true during the night and more so for forests emitting large amounts of NO.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mateo Duque-Villegas ◽  
Juan F. Salazar ◽  
Angela M. Rendón

Abstract. Some large-scale components of the Earth's climate system have been identified as policy-relevant tipping elements, meaning that anthropogenic forcing and perturbations may push them across a tipping point threshold, with potential global scale impact on ecosystems and concomitant environmental and social phenomena. A pronounced change in the amplitude and/or frequency of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is among such tipping elements. Here we use the Planet Simulator (PlaSim), an Earth system model of intermediate complexity, to investigate the potential impact on global climate and terrestrial ecosystems of shifting the current dynamics of the ENSO into a permanent El Niño. When forced with sea surface temperature (SST) derived from observations, the PlaSim model yields a realistic representation of large-scale climatological patterns, including realistic estimates of the global energy and water balances, and gross primary production. In a permanent El Niño state, we found significant differences in the global distribution of water and energy fluxes, and associated impacts on gross primary production, indicating that vegetation productivity decreases in the tropics whereas it increases in temperate and boreal regions. We identify regions in which these El Niño-induced changes are consistent with potential state transitions in global terrestrial ecosystems, including potential dieback of the Amazon rainforest, southward expansion of the Sahel, and further aridification of Australia.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tea Thum ◽  
Sönke Zaehle ◽  
Philipp Köhler ◽  
Tuula Aalto ◽  
Mika Aurela ◽  
...  

Abstract. Recent satellite observations of sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) are thought to provide a large-scale proxy for gross primary production (GPP), thus providing a new way to assess the performance of land surface models (LSMs). In this study, we assessed how well SIF is able to predict GPP in the Fenno-Scandinavian region and what potential limitations for its application exist. We implemented a SIF model into the JSBACH LSM and used active leaf level chlorophyll fluorescence measurements (ChlF) to evaluate the performance of the SIF module at a coniferous forest at Hyytiälä, Finland. We also compared simulated GPP and SIF at four Finnish micrometeorological flux measurement sites to observed GPP as well as to satellite observed SIF. Finally, we conducted a regional model simulation for the Fenno-Scandinavian region with JSBACH and compared the results to SIF retrievals from the GOME-2 (Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2) space-borne spectrometer and to observation-based regional GPP estimates. Both observations and simulations revealed that SIF can be used to estimate GPP at both site and regional scales. The GOME-2 based SIF was a better proxy for GPP than the remotely sensed fAPAR (fraction of absorbed photosynthetic active radiation by vegetation), even though high SIF values occurred during early spring at the northern latitudes, although these are not likely to be associated with photosynthesis.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Zheng ◽  
Ruoque Shen ◽  
Yawen Wang ◽  
Xiangqian Li ◽  
Shuguang Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract. Satellite-based models have been widely used to simulate vegetation gross primary production (GPP) at site, regional, or global scales in recent years. However, accurately reproducing the interannual variations in GPP remains a major challenge, and the long-term changes in GPP remain highly uncertain. In this study, we generated a long-term global GPP dataset at 0.05° latitude by 0.05° longitude at 8-day interval by revising a light use efficiency model (i.e. EC-LUE). In the revised EC-LUE model, we integrated the regulations of several major environmental variables: atmospheric CO2 concentration, radiation components, and atmospheric vapor pressure deficit (VPD). These environmental variables showed substantial long-term changes, which could greatly impact the global vegetation productivity. Eddy covariance (EC) measurements at 84 towers from the FLUXNET2015 dataset, covering nine major ecosystem types of the globe, were used to calibrate and validate the model. The revised EC-LUE model could explain 83 % and 68 % of the spatial variations in the annual GPP at 42 calibration and 43 validation sites, respectively. In particular, the revised EC-LUE model could very well reproduce (~ 74 % sites R2 > 0.5; averaged R2 = 0.65) the interannual variations in GPP at 51 sites with observations greater than 5-years. At global scale, sensitivity analysis indicated that the long-term changes of environmental variables could be well reflected in the global GPP dataset. The CO2 fertilization effect on the global GPP (0.14 ± 0.001 Pg C yr−1) could be offset by the increased VPD (−0.16 ± 0.02 Pg C yr−1). The global GPP derived from different datasets exist substantial uncertainty in magnitude and interannual variations. The magnitude of global summed GPP simulated by the revised EC-LUE model was comparable to other global models. While the revised EC-LUE model has a unique superiority in simulating the interannual variations in GPP at both site level and global scales. The revised EC-LUE model provides a reliable long-term estimate of global GPP because of integrating the important environmental variables. The dataset is available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.8942336.v1 (Zheng et al., 2019).


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 384
Author(s):  
Javier Martínez-López ◽  
Bastian Bertzky ◽  
Simon Willcock ◽  
Marine Robuchon ◽  
María Almagro ◽  
...  

Protected areas (PAs) are a key strategy to reverse global biodiversity declines, but they are under increasing pressure from anthropogenic activities and concomitant effects. Thus, the heterogeneous landscapes within PAs, containing a number of different habitats and ecosystem types, are in various degrees of disturbance. Characterizing habitats and ecosystems within the global protected area network requires large-scale monitoring over long time scales. This study reviews methods for the biophysical characterization of terrestrial PAs at a global scale by means of remote sensing (RS) and provides further recommendations. To this end, we first discuss the importance of taking into account the structural and functional attributes, as well as integrating a broad spectrum of variables, to account for the different ecosystem and habitat types within PAs, considering examples at local and regional scales. We then discuss potential variables, challenges and limitations of existing global environmental stratifications, as well as the biophysical characterization of PAs, and finally offer some recommendations. Computational and interoperability issues are also discussed, as well as the potential of cloud-based platforms linked to earth observations to support large-scale characterization of PAs. Using RS to characterize PAs globally is a crucial approach to help ensure sustainable development, but it requires further work before such studies are able to inform large-scale conservation actions. This study proposes 14 recommendations in order to improve existing initiatives to biophysically characterize PAs at a global scale.


2019 ◽  
Vol 91 (2A) ◽  
pp. 787-802
Author(s):  
Silvia Pondrelli ◽  
Francesca Di Luccio ◽  
Laura Scognamiglio ◽  
Irene Molinari ◽  
Simone Salimbeni ◽  
...  

Abstract Starting in 1988, with the installation of the first broadband (BB) instrument in Italy, the Mediterranean Very Broadband Seismographic Network (MedNet) program established a backbone network of BB stations of the highest quality in the Mediterranean Sea countries. The Mediterranean region is characterized by relevant and frequent seismicity related to its complex tectonics, due to the convergence of two major plates, Africa and Eurasia, and the involvement of other minor plates, as the Adriatic plate. Therefore, the MedNet project became a scientific research infrastructure of excellence, able to fill the gap of regional coverage when the availability of seismic BB instruments was still scarce. The main characteristics of the MedNet network are the highest quality of the seismographic instrumentation at remote sites and very low level of anthropogenic noise with stable conditions of pressure and temperature. After 30 yr of recordings, the MedNet program has proven that the early adoption of very BB instruments in selected sites have been the best choice. A large number of studies benefited from MedNet data, as seismic source computation and Earth structure reconstruction, at local and global scale. We present a concise overview of the contribution given by MedNet data in the last three decades to motivate and financially support the existence of this valuable infrastructure, and to further maintain this project.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 3062
Author(s):  
Guo Zhang ◽  
Boyang Jiang ◽  
Taoyang Wang ◽  
Yuanxin Ye ◽  
Xin Li

To ensure the accuracy of large-scale optical stereo image bundle block adjustment, it is necessary to provide well-distributed ground control points (GCPs) with high accuracy. However, it is difficult to acquire control points through field measurements outside the country. Considering the high planimetric accuracy of spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images and the high elevation accuracy of satellite-based laser altimetry data, this paper proposes an adjustment method that combines both as control sources, which can be independent from GCPs. Firstly, the SAR digital orthophoto map (DOM)-based planar control points (PCPs) acquisition is realized by multimodal matching, then the laser altimetry data are filtered to obtain laser altimetry points (LAPs), and finally the optical stereo images’ combined adjustment is conducted. The experimental results of Ziyuan-3 (ZY-3) images prove that this method can achieve an accuracy of 7 m in plane and 3 m in elevation after adjustment without relying on GCPs, which lays the technical foundation for a global-scale satellite image process.


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