Abstract
The quantification of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of carbon dioxide over regions, continents, or the globe is essential for understanding the feedbacks between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere in the context of global climate change. The eddy covariance technique provides continuous NEE measurements for a variety of ecosystem and climate types. These measurements, however, only represent the fluxes at the scale of the tower footprint. Here a data-driven approach and satellite remote sensing are used to upscale NEE observations from eddy covariance flux towers to the continental scale and to produce gridded flux estimates for the conterminous U.S. over the period 2000–2009. The resulting 10-year gridded flux estimates (EC-MOD) have 1 km spatial resolution and 8-day time step, and provide independent and alternative NEE estimates compared to traditional approaches. These flux estimates are used to examine the spatial and temporal dynamics of NEE at seasonal, annual, and interannual scales. On average, the annual NEE of U.S. natural ecosystems is −0.54 Pg C year−1. The EC-MOD estimate of the U.S. carbon sink agrees with recent estimates from the literature. The dominant sources of the interannual variability in NEE of the U.S. include drought and disturbances. EC-MOD is also valuable for evaluating simulations from ecosystem models and atmospheric inversions.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Amiro BD, Barr AG, Barr JG, Black TA, Brach R, Brown M, Chen J, Clark KL, Davis KJ, Desai AR, Dore S, Engel V, Fuentes JD, Goldstein AH, Goulden ML, Kolb TE, Lavigne MB, Law BE, Margolis HA, Martin T, McCaughey JH, Misson L, Montes-Helu M, Noormets A, Randerson JT, Starr G, Xiao J (2010) Ecosystem carbon dioxide fluxes after disturbance in forests of North America. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 115:G00K02. doi:10.1029/2010JG001390
Anthoni PM, Unsworth MH, Law BE, Irvine J, Baldocchi DD, Tuyl SV, Moore D (2002) Seasonal differences in carbon and water vapor exchange in young and old-growth ponderosa pine ecosystems. Agri For Meteorol 111:203–222
Asrar G, Fuchs M, Kanemasu ET, Hatfield JL (1984) Estimating of absorbed photosynthesis radiation and leaf area index from spectral reflectance in wheat. Agron J 6:300–306
Baldocchi D, Falge E, Gu L, Olson R, Hollinger D, Running S, Anthoni P, Bernhofer C, Davis K, Evans R, Fuentes J, Goldstein A, Katul G, Law B, Lee X, Malhi Y, Meyers T, Munger W, Oechel W, Paw UKT, Pilegaard K, Schmid HP, Valentini R, Verma S, Vesala T, Wilson K, Wofsy S (2001) FLUXNET: a new tool to study the temporal and spatial variability of ecosystem-scale carbon dioxide, water vapor, and energy flux densities. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 82:2415–2434
Caspersen JP, Pacala SW, Jenkins JC, Hurtt GC, Moorcroft PR, Birdsey RA (2000) Contributions of land-use history to carbon accumulation in U.S. forests. Science 290:1148–1151
Ceccato P, Gobron N, Flasse S, Pinty B, Tarantola S (2002) Designing a spectral index to estimate vegetation water content from remote sensing data: part 1—theoretical approach. Remote Sen Environ 82:188–197
Clark KL, Gholz HL, Moncrieff JB, Cropley F, Loescher HW (1999) Environmental controls over net carbon dioxide from contrasting Florida ecosystems. Ecol Appl 9:936–948
Clark KL, Gholz HL, Castro MS (2004) Carbon dynamics along a chronosequence of slash pine plantations in N. Florida. Ecol Appl 4:1154–1171
Dang X, Lai C-T, Hollinger D, Schauer A, Xiao J, Munger W, Owensby C, Ehleringer JR (2011) Combining tower mixing ratio and community model data to estimate regional-scale net ecosystem carbon exchange by boundary layer inversion over 4 flux towers in the USA. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 116:G03036. doi:10.1029/2010JG001554
Desai AR, Richardson AD, Moffat AM, Kattge J, Hollinger DY, Barr A, Falge E, Noormets A, Papale D, Reichstein M, Stauch, VJ (2008) Cross-site evaluation of eddy covariance GPP and RE decomposition techniques. Agric For Meteorol 148:821–838
Deng F, Chen JM, Ishizawa M, Yuen C-W, Mo G, Higuchi K, Chan D, Maksyutov S (2007) Global monthly CO2 flux inversion with a focus over North America. Tellus 59B:179–190
Deng F, Chen JM, Pan Y, Peters W, Birdsey R, McCullough K, Xiao J (2013) The use of forest stand age information in an atmospheric CO2 inversion applied to North America. Biogeosciences 10:5335–5348
Fensholt R, Sandholt I (2003) Derivation of a shortwave infrared water stress index from MODIS near- and shortwave infrared data in a semiarid environment. Remote Sens Environ 87:111–121
Friedl MA, McIver DK, Hodges JCF, Zhang XY, Muchoney D, Strahler AH, Woodcock CE, Gopal S, Schneider A, Cooper A, Baccini A, Gao F, Schaaf C (2002) Global land cover mapping from MODIS: algorithms and early results. Remote Sens Environ 83:287–302
Gao BC (1996) NDWI—a normalized difference water index for remote sensing of vegetation liquid water from space. Remote Sens Environ 58:257–266
Göckede M, Foken T, Aubinet M, Aurela M, Banza J, Bernhofer C, Bonnefond JM, Brunet Y, Carrara A, Clement R, Dellwik E, Elbers J, Eugster W, Fuhrer J, Granier A, Grünwald T, Heinesch B, Janssens IA, Knohl A, Koeble R, Laurila T, Longdoz B, Manca G, Marek M, Markkanen T, Mateus J, Matteucci G, Mauder M, Migliavacca M, Minerbi S, Moncrieff J, Montagnani L, Moors E, Ourcival J-M, Papale D, Pereira J, Pilegaard K, Pita G, Rambal S, Rebmann C, Rodrigues A, Rotenberg E, Sanz MJ, Sedlak P, Seufert G, Siebicke L, Soussana JF, Valentini R, Vesala T, Verbeeck H, Yakir D (2008) Quality control of CarboEurope flux data—part 1: coupling footprint analyses with flux data quality assessment to evaluate sites in forest ecosystems. Biogeosciences 5:433–450
Goodale CL, Apps MJ, Birdsey RA, Field CB, Heath LS, Houghton RA, Jenkins JC, Kohlmaier GH, Kurz WA, Liu S, Nabuurs G-J, Nilsson S, Shvidenko AZ (2002) Forest carbon sinks in the Northern Hemisphere. Ecol Appl 12:891–899
Goward SN, Masek JG, Cohen W, Moisen G, Collatz GJ, Healey S, Houghton R, Huang C, Kennedy R, Law B, Turner D, Powell S, Wulder M (2008) Forest disturbance and North American carbon flux. EOS Trans Am Geophys Union 89:105–106
Hargrove WW, Hoffman FM, Law BE (2003) New analysis reveals representativeness of the AmeriFlux network. EOS Trans 84:529–544
Hollinger DY, Richardson AD (2005) Uncertainty in eddy covariance measurements and its application to physiological models. Tree Physiol 25:873–885
Houghton RA, Hackler JL, Lawrence KT (1999) The U.S. carbon budget: contributions from land-use change. Science 285:574–578
Huang C, Goward SN, Masek JG, Thomas N, Zhu Z, Vogelmann JE (2010) An automated approach for reconstructing recent forest disturbance history using dense Landsat time series stacks. Remote Sens Environ 114:183–198
Huete AR, Liu HQ, Batchily K, van Leeuwen OW (1997) A comparison of vegetation indices global set of TM images for EOS-MODIS. Remote Sens Environ 59:440–451
Huete A, Didan K, Miura T, Rodriguez EP, Gao X, Ferreira LG (2002) Overview of the radiometric and biophysical performance of the MODIS vegetation indices. Remote Sens Environ 83:195–213
Hunt ER, Rock BN (1989) Detection of changes in leaf water content using near and middle-infrared reflectances. Remote Sens Environ 30:43–54
Huntzinger DN, Post WM, Wei Y, Michalak AM, West TO, Jacobson AR, Baker IT, Chen JM, Davis KJ, Hayes DJ, Hoffman FM, Jain AK, Liu S, McGuire AD, Neilson RP, Potter C, Poulter B, Price D, Raczka BM, Tian HQ, Thornton P, Tomelleri E, Viovy N, Xiao J, Yuan W, Zeng N, Zhao M, Cook R (2012) North American carbon program (NACP) regional interim synthesis: terrestrial biosphere model intercomparison. Ecol Model 232:144–157. doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2012.02.004
Jackson TJ, Chen D, Cosh M, Li F, Anderson M, Walthall C, Doriaswamy P, Hunt ER (2004) Vegetation water content mapping using Landsat data derived normalized difference water index fro corn and soybeans. Remote Sens Environ 92:475–482
Jung M, Reichstein M, Bondeau A (2009) Towards global empirical upscaling of FLUXNET eddy covariance observations: validation of a model tree ensemble approach using a biosphere model. Biogeosciences 6:2001–2013
Liu S, Bond-Lamberty B, Hicke JA, Vargas R, Zhao S, Chen J, Edburg SL, Hu Y, Liu J, McGuire AD, Xiao J, Keane R, Yuan W, Tang J, Luo Y, Potter C, Oeding J (2011) Simulating the impacts of disturbances on forest carbon cycling in North America: processes, data, models, and challenges. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 116:G00K08. doi:10.1029/2010JG001585
Loescher HW, Law BE, Mahrt L, Hollinger DY, Campbell J, Wofsy SC (2006) Uncertainties in, and interpretation of, carbon flux estimates using the eddy covariance technique. J Geophys Res 111: D21S90. doi:10.1029/2005JD006932
Myneni RB, Dong J, Tucker CJ, Kaufmann RK, Kauppi PE, Liski J, Zhou L, Alexeyev V, Hughes MK (2001) A large carbon sink in the woody biomass of northern forests. PNAS 98:14784–14789
Myneni RB, Hoffman S, Knyazikhin Y, Privette JL, Glassy J, Tian Y, Wang Y, Song X, Zhang Y, Smith GR, Lotsch A, Friedl M, Morisette JT, Votava P, Nemani RR, Running SW (2002) Global products of vegetation leaf area and fraction absorbed PAR from year one of MODIS data. Remote Sens Environ 83:214–231
Pacala SW, Hurtt GC, Baker D, Peylin P, Houghton RA, Birdsey RA, Heath L, Sundquist ET, Stallard RF, Ciais P, Moorcroft P, Caspersen JP, Shevliakova E, Moore B, Kohlmaier G, Holland E, Gloor M, Harmon ME, Fan S-M, Sarmiento JL, Goodale CL, Schimel D, Field CB (2001) Consistent land- and atmosphere-based U.S. carbon sink estimates. Science 292:2316–2320
Pan Y et al (2011a) A large and persistent carbon sink in the world’s forests. Science 333:988–993
Pan Y, Chen JM, Birdsey R, McCullough K, He L, Deng F (2011b) Age structure and disturbance legacy of North American forests. Biogeosciences 8(715–732):979–1020
Penuelas J, Gamon JA, Griffin KL, Field CB (1993) Assessing community type, plant biomass, pigment composition, and photosynthetic efficiency of aquatic vegetation from spectral reflectance. Remote Sens Environ 46:110–118
Potter CS, Randerson JT, Field CB, Matson PA, Vitousek PM, Mooney HA, Klosster SA (1993) Terrestrial ecosystem production—a process model based on global satellite and surface data. Glob Biogeochem Cycles 7:811–841
Rahman AF, Sims DA, Cordova VD, El-Masri BZ (2005) Potential of MODIS EVI and surface temperature for directly estimating per-pixel ecosystem C fluxes. Geophy Res Lett 32:L19404. doi:10.1029/2005GL024127
Ranson KJ, Daughtry CST, Biehl LL, Bauer ME (1985) Sun-view angle effects on reflectance factors of corn canopies. Remote Sens Environ 18:47–161
Reichstein M, Falge E, Baldocchi D, Papale D, Aubinet M, Berbigier P, Bernhofer C, Buchmann N, Gilmanov T, Granier A, Grunwald T, Havrankova K, Ilvesniemi H, Janous D, Knohl A, Laurila T, Lohila A, Loustau D, Matteucci G, Meyers T, Miglietta F, Ourcival JM, Pumpanen J, Rambal S, Rotenberg E, Sanz M, Tenhunen J, Seufert G, Vaccari F, Vesala T, Yakir D, Valentini R (2005) On the separation of net ecosystem exchange into assimilation and ecosystem respiration: review and improved algorithm. Glob Change Biol 11:1424–1439
Richardson AD, Hollinger DY, Aber JD, Qllinger SV, Braswell BH (2007) Environmental variation is directly responsible for short- but not long-term variation in forest-atmosphere carbon exchange. Glob Change Biol 13:788–803
Richardson AD, Black TA, Ciais P, Delbart N, Friedl MA, Gobron N, Hollinger DY, Kutsch WL, Longdoz B, Luyssaert S, Migliavacca M, Montagnani L, Munger JW, Moors E, Piao S, Rebmann C, Reichstein M, Saigusa N, Tomelleri E, Vargas R, Varlagin A (2010) Influence of spring and autumn phenological transition on forest ecosystem productivity. Philos Trans R Soc B 365:3227–3246
Rienecker MM, Suarez MJ, Gelaro R, Todling R, Bacmeister J, Liu E et al (2011) MERRA—NASA’s modern-era retrospective analysis for research and applications. J Clim 24:3624–3648. doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00015.1
RuleQuest (2008) http://www.rulequest.com. Accessed 18 Oct 2007
Running SW, Hunt ER (1993) Generalization of a forest ecosystem process model for other biomes, Biome-BGC, and an application for global-scale models. Scaling processes between leaf and landscape levels. In: Ehleringer JR, Field CB (eds) Scaling physiological processes: leaf to globe. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 141–158
Ryan MG (1991) Effects of climate change on plant respiration. Ecol Appl 1:157–167
Ryan MG, Law BE (2005) Interpreting, measuring, and modeling soil respiration. Biogeochemistry 73:3–27
Schimel D, Melillo J, Tian H, McGuire AD, Kicklighter D, Kittel T, Rosenbloom N, Running S, Thornton P, Ojima D, Parton W, Kelly R, Sykes M, Neilson R, Rizzo B (2000) Contribution of increasing CO2 and climate to carbon storage by ecosystems in the United States. Science 287:2004–2006
Schmid HP (1994) Source areas for scalars and scalar fluxes. Bound Layer Meteorol 67:293–318
Sellers PJ, Randall DA, Betts AK, Hall FG, Berry JA, Collatz GJ, Denning AS, Mooney HA, Nobre CA, Sato N, Field CB, Henderson-sellers A (1997) Modeling the exchanges of energy, water, and carbon between continents and the atmosphere. Science 275:502–509
Shroyer JP, Thompson C, Brown R, Ohlenbach PD, Fjell DL, Staggenborg S, Duncan S, Kilgore GL (1996) Kansas crop planting guide, vol L-818. Kansas State University, Manhattan, pp 2
SOCCR (2007) King AW et al (eds) The First state of the carbon cycle report (SOCCR): the North American carbon budget and implications for the global carbon cycle. US Climate Change Science Program, Washington, p 19
Sun G, Caldwell P, Noormets A, McNulty SG, Cohen E, Moore Myers J, Domec J-C, Treasure E, Mu Q, Xiao J, John R, Chen J (2011) Upscaling key ecosystem functions across the conterminous United States by a water-centric ecosystem model. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 116:G00J05. doi:10.1029/2010JG001573
Tans PP, Fung IY, Takahashi T (1990) Observational constraints on the global atmospheric CO2 budget. Science 247:1431–1438
Wan Z, Zhang Y, Zhang Q, Li Z-L (2002) Validation of the land-surface temperature products retrieved from Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer data. Remote Sens Environ 83:163–180
Waring RH, Franklin JF (1979) Evergreen coniferous forests of the Pacific Northwest. Science 204:1380–1386
Wiedinmyer C, Neff JC (2007) Estimates of CO2 from fires in the United States: implications for carbon management. Carbon Balance Manag 2. doi:10.1186/1750-0680-2-10
Wofsy SC, Goulden ML, Munger JW, Fan S-M, Bakwin PS, Daube BC, Bassow SL, Bazzaz FA (1993) Net exchange of CO2 in a mid-latitude forest. Science 260:1314–1317
Xiao J, Moody A (2004) Photosynthetic activity of US biomes: responses to the spatial variability and seasonality of precipitation and temperature. Glob Change Biol 10:437–451
Xiao J, Moody A (2005) A comparison of methods for estimating fractional green vegetation cover within a dsert-to-upland transition zone in central New Mexico, USA. Remote Sens Environ 98:237–250
Xiao J, Zhuang Q, Liang E, McGuire AD, Moody A, Kicklighter DW, Melillo JM (2009) Twentieth century droughts and their impacts on terrestrial carbon cycling in China. Earth Interact 13(010):1–31. doi:10.1175/2009EI275.1
Xiao J, Zhuang Q, Baldocchi DD, Law BE, Richardson AD, Chen J, Oren R, Starr G, Noormets A, Ma S, Verma SB, Wharton S, Wofsy SC, Bolstad PV, Burns SP, Cook DR, Curtis PS, Drake BG, Falk M, Fischer ML, Foster DR, Gu L, Hadley JL, Hollinger DY, Katul GG, Litvak M, Martin TA, Matamala R, McNulty S, Meyers TP, Monson RK, Munger JW, Oechel WC, Paw UKT, Schmid HP, Scott RL, Sun G, Suyker AE, Torn MS (2008) Estimation of net ecosystem carbon exchange for the conterminous United States by combining MODIS and AmeriFlux data. Agric For Meteorol 148:1827–1847. doi:10.1016/j.agrformet.2008.06.015
Xiao J, Zhuang Q, Law BE, Chen J, Baldocchi DD, Cook DR, Oren R, Richardson AD, Wharton S, Ma S, Martin TA, Verma SB, Suyker AE, Scott RL, Monson RK, Litvak M, Hollinger DY, Sun G, Davis KJ, Bolstad PV, Burns SP, Curtis PS, Drake BG, Falk M, Fischer ML, Foster DR, Gu L, Hadley JL, Katul GG, Matamala R, McNulty S, Meyers TP, Munger JW, Noormets A, Oechel WC, Paw UKT, Schmid HP, Starr G, Torn MS, Wofsy SC (2010) A continuous measure of gross primary production for the conterminous U.S. derived from MODIS and AmeriFlux data. Remote Sens Environ 114:576–591. doi:10.1016/j.rse.2009.10.013
Xiao J, Zhuang Q, Law BE, Baldocchi DD, Chen J, Richardson AD, Melillo JM, Davis KJ, Hollinger DY, Wharton S, Oren R, Noormets A, Fischer ML, Verma SB, Cook DR, Sun G, McNulty S, Wofsy SC, Bolstad PV, Burns SP, Curtis PS, Drake BG, Falk M, Foster DR, Gu L, Hadley JL, Katul GG, Litvak M, Ma S, Martin TA, Matamala R, Meyers TP, Monson RK, Munger JW, Oechel WC, Paw UKT, Schmid HP, Scott RL, Starr G, Suyker AE, Torn MS (2011a) Assessing Net ecosystem carbon exchange of U.S. terrestrial ecosystems by integrating eddy covariance flux measurements and satellite observations. Agric For Meteorol 151:60–69. doi:10.1016/j.agrformet.2010.09.002
Xiao J, Davis KJ, Urban NM, Keller K, Saliendra NZ (2011b) Upscaling carbon fluxes from towers to the regional scale: influence of parameter variability and land cover representation on regional flux estimates. J Geophys Res 116:G00J06. doi:10.1029/2010JG001568
Xiao J, Chen J, Davis KJ, Reichstein M (2012) Advances in upscaling of eddy covariance measurements of carbon and water fluxes. J Geophys Res Biogeosci 117:G00J01. doi:10.1029/2011JG001889
Xiao X, Zhang Q, Saleska S, Hutyra L, Camargo PD et al (2005) Satellite-based modeling of gross primary production in a seasonally moist tropical evergreen forest. Remote Sens Environ 94:105–122
Yang L, Huang C, Homer C, Wylie BK, Coan MJ (2003) An approach for mapping large-area impervious surfaces: synergistic use of Landsat-7 ETM + and high spatial resolution imagery. Can J Remote Sens 29:230–240
Zhang L, Wylie BK, Ji L, Gilmanov TG, Tieszen LL, Howard DM (2011) Upscaling carbon fluxes over the great plains grasslands: sinks and sources. J Geophys Res 116:G00J03. doi:10.1029/2010JG001504
Zhang X, Kondragunta S (2006) Estimating forest biomass in the USA using generalized allometric models and MODIS land products. Geophys Res Lett 33:L09402. doi:10.1029/2006GL025879
Zhao M, Heinsch FA, Nemani RR, Running SW (2005) Improvements of the MODIS terrestrial gross and net primary production global data set. Remote Sens Environ 95:164–175
Zhou L, Tucker CJ, Kaufmann RK, Slayback D, Shabanov NV, Myneni RB (2001) Variations in northern vegetation activity inferred from satellite data of vegetation index during 1981 to 1999. J Geophys Res 106:20069–20083
Acknowledgments
This work is supported by National Science Foundation (NSF) through Macrosystems Biology program under award 1065777, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) under grant NNX11AL32G, and Department of Energy (DOE) through National Institute for Climatic Change Research (NICCR) under grant 14U776. I thank the research/technical personnel of the AmeriFlux towers, MODIS data products, and MERRA data products for making the flux observations, MODIS data streams, and MERRA data available, respectively. I also thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Xiao, J. (2014). Assessing Net Ecosystem Exchange of Carbon Dioxide Between the Terrestrial Biosphere and the Atmosphere Using Fluxnet Observations and Remote Sensing. In: Hanes, J. (eds) Biophysical Applications of Satellite Remote Sensing. Springer Remote Sensing/Photogrammetry. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-25047-7_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-25047-7_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-25046-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-25047-7
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)