Structural complexity biases vegetation greenness measures

Zeng, Yelu; Hao, Dalei; Park, Taejin; Zhu, Peng; Huete, Alfredo; Myneni, Ranga; Knyazikhin, Yuri; Qi, Jianbo; Nemani, Ramakrishna R.; Li, Fa; Huang, Jianxi; Gao, Yongyuan; Li, Baoguo; Ji, Fujiang; Köhler, Philipp; Frankenberg, Christian; Berry, Joseph A.; Chen, Min

doi:10.1038/s41559-023-02187-6

Title: Structural complexity biases vegetation greenness measures

Journal Article · 14 September 2023 · Nature Ecology and Evolution

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02187-6 · OSTI ID:2222695

^[1];

^[2];

^[3]; Zhu, Peng ^[4];

^[5]; Myneni, Ranga ^[6]; Knyazikhin, Yuri ^[6]; Qi, Jianbo ^[7]; Nemani, Ramakrishna R. ^[3];

^[8];

^[9];

^[9]; Li, Baoguo ^[9]; Ji, Fujiang ^[8];

^[10];

^[11];

^[12];

^[8]

China Agricultural University, Beijing (China); University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), Moffett Field, Mountain View, CA (United States); Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, Moffett Field, Mountain View, CA (United States)
The University of Hong Kong (China)
University of Technology Sydney, NSW (Australia)
Boston University, MA (United States)
Centre d’Etudes Spatiales de la Biosphere, Toulouse (France)
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
China Agricultural University, Beijing (China)
EUMETSAT, Darmstadt (Germany)
California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States). Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA (United States)

Vegetation ‘greenness’ characterized by spectral vegetation indices (VIs) is an integrative measure of vegetation leaf abundance, biochemical properties and pigment composition. Surprisingly, satellite observations reveal that several major VIs over the US Corn Belt are higher than those over the Amazon rainforest, despite the forests having a greater leaf area. This contradicting pattern underscores the pressing need to understand the underlying drivers and their impacts to prevent misinterpretations. Here we show that macroscale shadows cast by complex forest structures result in lower greenness measures compared with those cast by structurally simple and homogeneous crops. The shadow-induced contradictory pattern of VIs is inevitable because most Earth-observing satellites do not view the Earth in the solar direction and thus view shadows due to the sun–sensor geometry. The shadow impacts have important implications for the interpretation of VIs and solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence as measures of global vegetation changes. For instance, a land-conversion process from forests to crops over the Amazon shows notable increases in VIs despite a decrease in leaf area. In conclusion, our findings highlight the importance of considering shadow impacts to accurately interpret remotely sensed VIs and solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence for assessing global vegetation and its changes.

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Research Organization:: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); US Department of Agriculture (USDA); Universities Scientific Fund

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-76RL01830; 1027576; 15053347

OSTI ID:: 2222695

Report Number(s):: PNNL-SA-184390

Journal Information:: Nature Ecology and Evolution, Vol. 7, Issue 11; ISSN 2397-334X

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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