Harnessing Information from Shortwave Infrared Reflectance Bands to
Enhance Satellite-Based Estimates of Gross Primary Productivity
Abstract
Monitoring Gross Primary Productivity (GPP), the rate at which
ecosystems fix atmospheric carbon dioxide, is crucial for understanding
global carbon cycling. Remote sensing offers a powerful tool for
monitoring GPP using vegetation indices (VIs) derived from visible and
near-infrared reflectance (NIRv). While promising, these VIs often
suffer from sensitivity to soil background, moisture, and variations in
solar and view zenith angle (SZA and VZA). This study investigates the
potential of incorporating shortwave infrared (SWIR) reflectance from
MODIS and GOES-R advanced baseline imager (ABI) sensors to improve GPP
estimation. We evaluated various formulations for creating
SWIR-enhanced Near-InfraRed reflectance of Vegetation (sNIRv)
by integrating SWIR information into established VIs across 96
Ameriflux research sites. Our findings reveal that sNIRv improves
correlation with GPP for ABI data by up to 0.19 on a half-hourly basis
for normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values below 0.25,
with diminishing gains as NDVI values rise. Using MODIS data, sNIRv
matches r values of NIRv for NDVI above 0.25, with a slight 0.05
increase for NDVI below 0.25. Analyses using SCOPE model simulations
further support the ability of sNIRv to capture fPAR (fractional
photosynthetically active radiation), a proxy for GPP, especially for
ecosystems with low LAI. Results highlight that sNIRv-based VIs are less
sensitive to soil background, SZA, and VZA compared to NIRv. Shapely
Additive Explanations (SHAP) value analysis also identifies sNIRv as the
best feature for GPP estimation using machine learning modeling across
all different land covers, NDVI ranges, and soil water content (SWC)
levels.