Sun-Induced Fluorescence's Correlation to Carbon-Flux Increases When Raw
Data is Adjusted to Account for Vegetation Biochemistry and Structure.
Abstract
The quantification and monitoring of photosynthesis are essential to
understand the global carbon cycle and vegetation’s responses to
climate. Among the different remotely-sensed photosynthesis-related
variables, Sun-Induced chlorophyll a Fluorescence (SIF) is especially
promising since it results directly from photochemical energy conversion
but uncertainties still complicate its interpretation. Recent studies
have pointed to the influences of vegetation biochemistry and structure
on radiative transfer as the main confounding factors for the use of SIF
as a photosynthesis proxy. Leaf-level fluorescence research has shown
that such influences may be removed by adjusting the raw fluorescence
signal to the emitting leaf’s spectra and we suggest that this can be
upscaled to the landscape level. In this study we present and test new
Spectrally-Adjusted SIF formulations (SASIFs), along with previously
proposed SIF modifications and other acknowledged photosynthesis
productivity proxies, against carbon-flux data from vegetation of
diverse structure. Accordingly, we used Gross Primary Productivity (GPP)
data spanning periods from two to seven years, from 27 FLUXNET sites
classified into different Land Cover Classes (LCCs) as defined by the
International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP). The data tested
against GPP was calculated with GOME-2 SIF data, MODIS reflectance and
spectral vegetation indices, and it included: NIRV, SIF from the red and
the far-red frequency peaks, SIF normalized by the cosine of the Sun’s
zenith angle, SIF-yield, new SASIFs and FLUXCOM GPP. The relationships
between all variables and FLUXNET GPP were tested using time-series
decomposition, site- and LCC-specific Kendall’s rank correlation tests
and linear mixed model analysis. Results show that one of our new SASIFs
has the best overall correlation to FLUXNET GPP among all tested data.
Our LCC-specific analysis demonstrates the influences of biochemistry,
phenology, temporal resolution and vegetation structure on the
relationships between the tested variables. Results support the idea
that chlorophyll fluorescence can be complemented with reflectance data
improving our ability to monitor vegetation productivity and predict
climate-driven changes to standing biomass in spite of their particular
limitations.