Consistency between sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence and gross primary production of vegetation in North America

• Published in: Remote sensing of environment Vol. 183; no. C; pp. 154 - 169
• Main Authors: Zhang, Yao, Xiao, Xiangming, Jin, Cui, Dong, Jinwei, Zhou, Sha, Wagle, Pradeep, Joiner, Joanna, Guanter, Luis, Zhang, Yongguang, Zhang, Geli, Qin, Yuanwei, Wang, Jie, Moore, Berrien
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Goddard Space Flight Center Elsevier Inc 01.09.2016; Elsevier
• Subjects: Carbon cycle; Chlorophylls; Estimates; Fluorescence; GOME-2; GPP product; Life Sciences (General); Light use efficiency; Mathematical models; Meteorology And Climatology; MODIS; Photosynthesis; Remote sensing; Scale (ratio); SIF; Vegetation; Vegetation Photosynthesis Model (VPM); North America; Carbon cycle; SIF; GPP product; Light use efficiency; Vegetation Photosynthesis Model (VPM); Remote sensing; MODIS; Gross Primary Productivity; Absorbed Par; Flux Tower; Photosynthesis Model; Chlorophyll Fluorescence; Vegetation
• ISSN: 0034-4257; 1879-0704
• DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2016.05.015

Accurate estimation of the gross primary production (GPP) of terrestrial ecosystems is vital for a better understanding of the spatial-temporal patterns of the global carbon cycle. In this study, we estimate GPP in North America (NA) using the satellite-based Vegetation Photosynthesis Model (VPM), MODIS images at 8-day temporal and 500m spatial resolutions, and NCEP-NARR (National Center for Environmental Prediction-North America Regional Reanalysis) climate data. The simulated GPP (GPPVPM) agrees well with the flux tower derived GPP (GPPEC) at 39 AmeriFlux sites (155 site-years). The GPPVPM in 2010 is spatially aggregated to 0.5 by 0.5° grid cells and then compared with sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) data from Global Ozone Monitoring Instrument 2 (GOME-2), which is directly related to vegetation photosynthesis. Spatial distribution and seasonal dynamics of GPPVPM and GOME-2 SIF show good consistency. At the biome scale, GPPVPM and SIF shows strong linear relationships (R2>0.95) and small variations in regression slopes (4.60–5.55gCm−2day−1/mWm−2nm−1sr−1). The total annual GPPVPM in NA in 2010 is approximately 13.53PgCyear−1, which accounts for ~11.0% of the global terrestrial GPP and is within the range of annual GPP estimates from six other process-based and data-driven models (11.35–22.23PgCyear−1). Among the seven models, some models did not capture the spatial pattern of GOME-2 SIF data at annual scale, especially in Midwest cropland region. The results from this study demonstrate the reliable performance of VPM at the continental scale, and the potential of SIF data being used as a benchmark to compare with GPP models. •VPM is used to estimate GPP across North America for the first time.•VPM-based GPP agrees well with GPPEC at 39 flux sites across different biomes.•VPM-based GPP shows high spatial-temporal consistency with GOME-2 SIF data.•GOME-2 SIF is strongly correlated with APARchl than APARNDVI and APARfPAR.•GOME-2 SIF is used as a reference to compare with GPP estimates from other models.