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Modeling gross primary production of a temperate grassland ecosystem in Inner Mongolia, China, using MODIS imagery and climate data

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Abstract

Carbon fluxes in temperate grassland ecosystems are characterized by large inter-annual variations due to fluctuations in precipitation and land water availability. Since an eddy flux tower has been in operation in the Xilin Gol grassland, which belongs to typical temperate grassland in North China, in this study, observed eddy covariance flux data were used to critically evaluate the biophysical performance of different remote sensing vegetation indices in relation to carbon fluxes. Furthermore, vegetation photosynthesis model (VPM) was introduced to estimate gross primary production (GPP) of the grassland ecosystem for assessing its dependability. As defined by the input variables of VPM, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradimeter (MODIS) and standard data product MOD09A1 were downloaded for calculating enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and land surface water index (LSWI). Measured air temperature (Ta) and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) data were also included for model simulating. Field CO2 flux data, during the period from May, 2003 to September, 2005, were used to estimate the “observed” GPP (GPP obs) for validation. The seasonal dynamics of GPP predicted from VPM (GPP VPM) was compared quite well (R 2=0.903, N=111, p<0.0001) with the observed GPP. The aggregate GPP VPM for the study period was 641.5 g C·m−2, representing a ∼6% over-estimation, compared with GPP obs. Additionally, GPP predicted from other two typical production efficiency model (PEM) represents either higher overestimation or lower underestimation to GPP obs. Results of this study demonstrate that VPM has potential for estimating site-level or regional grassland GPP, and might be an effective tool for scaling-up carbon fluxes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Qianyanzhou Ecological Experimental Station, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    WeiXing Wu & ShaoQiang Wang

  2. Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    WeiXing Wu

  3. Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 03824, USA

    XiangMing Xiao

  4. Key Laboratory of Ecosystem Network Observation and Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    GuiRui Yu & YuLing Fu

  5. Laboratory of Quantitative Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China

    YanBin Hao

Authors
  1. WeiXing Wu
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  2. ShaoQiang Wang
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  3. XiangMing Xiao
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  4. GuiRui Yu
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  5. YuLing Fu
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  6. YanBin Hao
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Correspondence to ShaoQiang Wang.

Additional information

Supported by the International Partnership Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. CXTD-Z2005-1), National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2002CB412501), and NASA Land Cover and Land Use Change (LCLUC) Program (Grant Nos. NAG5-11160, NNG05GH80G)

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Wu, W., Wang, S., Xiao, X. et al. Modeling gross primary production of a temperate grassland ecosystem in Inner Mongolia, China, using MODIS imagery and climate data. Sci. China Ser. D-Earth Sci. 51, 1501–1512 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-008-0113-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-008-0113-5

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