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Title: Solar-Induced Fluorescence Detects Interannual Variation in Gross Primary Production of Coniferous Forests in the Western United States

Journal Article · · Geophysical Research Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2018gl077906· OSTI ID:1539744

Abstract Quantifying gross primary production (GPP), the largest flux of the terrestrial carbon cycle, remains difficult at the landscape scale. Evergreen needleleaf (coniferous) forests in the western United States constitute an important carbon reservoir whose annual GPP varies from year‐to‐year due to drought, mortality, and other ecosystem disturbances. Evergreen forest productivity is challenging to determine via traditional remote sensing indices (i.e., NDVI and EVI), because detecting environmental stress conditions is difficult. We investigated the utility of solar‐induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) to detect year‐to‐year variation in GPP in four coniferous forests varying in species composition in the western United States (Sierra Nevada, Cascade, and Rocky Mountains). We show that annually averaged, satellite‐based observations of SIF (retrieved from GOME‐2) were significantly correlated with annual GPP observed at eddy covariance towers over several years. Further, SIF responded quantitatively to drought‐induced mortality, suggesting that SIF may be capable of detecting ecosystem disturbance in coniferous forests.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0010624; SC0010625; DE‐SC0010625; DE‐SC0010624
OSTI ID:
1539744
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1461014
Journal Information:
Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 45, Issue 14; ISSN 0094-8276
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 43 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (9)

Mechanistic evidence for tracking the seasonality of photosynthesis with solar-induced fluorescence journal May 2019
TROPOMI reveals dry-season increase of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence in the Amazon forest journal October 2019
Do all chlorophyll fluorescence emission wavelengths capture the spring recovery of photosynthesis in boreal evergreen foliage? journal August 2019
Diurnal and Seasonal Solar Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Photosynthesis in a Boreal Scots Pine Canopy journal January 2019
A Comparison of OCO-2 SIF, MODIS GPP, and GOSIF Data from Gross Primary Production (GPP) Estimation and Seasonal Cycles in North America journal January 2020
A double peak in the seasonality of California's photosynthesis as observed from space journal January 2020
A Lagrangian approach towards extracting signals of urban CO2 emissions from satellite observations of atmospheric column CO2 (XCO2): X-Stochastic Time-Inverted Lagrangian Transport model (“X-STILT v1”) journal January 2018
Global satellite-driven estimates of heterotrophic respiration journal January 2019
Decomposing reflectance spectra to track gross primary production in a subalpine evergreen forest journal January 2020