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Title: Diurnal and Seasonal Dynamics of Solar-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence, Vegetation Indices, and Gross Primary Productivity in the Boreal Forest

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2021jg006588· OSTI ID:1978554
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [5];  [1]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [6];  [6]; ORCiD logo [1];  [7]; ORCiD logo [7]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
  2. Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)
  3. California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
  4. Heidelberg Univ. (Germany)
  5. Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)
  6. Univ. of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK (Canada)
  7. California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Jet Propulsion Lab. (JPL)

Remote sensing of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) provides a powerful proxy for gross primary productivity (GPP). It is particularly promising in boreal ecosystems where seasonal downregulation of photosynthesis occurs without significant changes in canopy structure or chlorophyll content. The use of SIF as a proxy for GPP is complicated by inherent non-linearities due to both physical (illumination effects) and ecophysiological (light use efficiencies) controls at fine spatial (tower/leaf) and temporal (half-hourly) scales. Here, to study the SIF-GPP relationship, we investigated the diurnal and seasonal dynamics of continuous tower-based measurements of SIF, GPP, and common vegetation indices at the Southern Old Black Spruce Site (SOBS) in Saskatchewan, CA over the course of two years. We find that SIF outperforms other vegetation indices as a proxy for GPP at all temporal scales but shows a non-linear relationship with GPP at a half-hourly resolution. At small temporal scales, SIF and GPP are predominantly driven by light and non-linearity between SIF and GPP is due to the light saturation of GPP. Averaged over daily and monthly scales, the relationship between SIF and GPP is linear due to a reduction in the observed PAR range. Seasonal changes in the light responses of SIF and GPP are driven by changes in light use efficiency which co-vary with changes in temperature, while illumination and canopy structure partially linearize the SIF-GPP relationship. Additionally, we find that the SIF-GPP relationship has a seasonal dependency. Our results help clarify the utility of SIF for estimating carbon assimilation in boreal forests.

Research Organization:
Princeton Univ., NJ (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); National Science Foundation (NSF); United States Geological Survey
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0016011; 80NSSC17K0108; 80NSSC17K0110; 80NSSC19M0130; DGE-1650604; DGE-2034835; 1926090; G10AP00129; G16AC00224
OSTI ID:
1978554
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences, Vol. 127, Issue 2; ISSN 2169-8953
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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