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ARS Home » Plains Area » Mandan, North Dakota » Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #163689

Title: INTEGRATION OF CO2 FLUX AND REMOTELY SENSED DATA FOR PRIMARY PRODUCTION AND ECOSYSTEM RESPIRATION ANALYSES IN THE NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS: POTENTIAL FOR QUANTITATIVE SPATIAL EXTRAPOLATION

Author
item GILMANOV, TAGIR - SDSU, BROOKINGS,SD
item TIESZEN, LARRY - SAIC,USGS/EROS,SFALLS,SD
item WYLIE, BRUCE - SAIC,USGS/EROS,SFALLS,SD
item FLANAGAN, LARRY - UNIV OF LETHBRIDGE
item Frank, Albert
item Haferkamp, Marshall
item MEYERS, TILDEN - NOAA/ARL,OAK RIDGE,TN
item Morgan, Jack

Submitted to: Global Ecology and Biogeography
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/27/2004
Publication Date: 5/1/2005
Citation: Gilmanov, T.G., Tieszen, L.L., Wylie, B.K., Flanagan, L.B., Frank, A.B., Haferkamp, M.R., Meyers, T.P., Morgan, J.A. 2005. Integration of CO2 flux and remotely sensed data for primary production and ecosystem respiration analyses in the Northern Great Plains: Potential for quantitative spatial extrapolation. Global Ecology and Biogeography 14:271-292.

Interpretive Summary: Extrapolation of tower CO2 fluxes will be greatly facilitated if relationships of flux components to remotely sensed factors are established. Long-term measurements at five Northern Great Plains locations were used to obtain relationships of CO2 fluxes to photosynthetically active radiation other on-site factors, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from the SPOT VEGETATION data set. CO2 flux data from the following stations and years were analyzed: Lethbridge, Alberta, 1998-2001; Fort Peck, MT, 2000, 2002; Miles City, MT, 2000-2001; Mandan, ND, 1999-2001; and Cheyenne, WY, 1997-1998. Analyses based on light-response functions allowed partitioning net CO2 flux into gross primary productivity and ecosystem respiration. Weekly averages of daytime respiration estimated from light-response were closely correlated with weekly averages of measured nighttime respiration. Daytime respiration tends to be higher than nighttime respiration and regressions for all sites were different from 1:1 relationships. Over 13 site-years, gross primary production varied from 459 to 2491 g CO2 m-2 yr-1, ecosystem respiration from 996 to 1881 g CO2 m-2 yr-1, and net ecosystem exchange from -537 (source) to +610 g CO2 m-2 yr-1 (sink). Our analysis demonstrated that the phenomenological models can be used to describe relationships of gross primary productivity and ecosystem respiration to NDVI and other environmental predictors.

Technical Abstract: Extrapolation of tower CO2 fluxes will be greatly facilitated if relationships of flux components to remotely sensed factors is established. Long-term measurements at five Northern Great Plains locations were used to obtain relationships of CO2 fluxes to photosynthetically active radiation (Q), other on-site factors, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from the SPOT VEGETATION data set. CO2 flux data from the following stations and years were analyzed: Lethbridge, Alberta, 1998-2001; Fort Peck, MT, 2000, 2002; Miles City, MT, 2000-2001; Mandan, ND, 1999-2001; and Cheyenne, WY, 1997-1998. Analyses based on light-response functions allowed partitioning net CO2 flux (F) into gross primary productivity (Pg) and ecosystem respiration (Re). Weekly averages of daytime respiration, estimated from light-response were closely correlated with weekly averages of measured nighttime respiration(R2=0.64 to 0.95). Daytime respiration tends to be higher than nighttime respiration, and regressions of daytime on nighttime for all sites were different from 1:1 relationships. Over 13 site-years, gross primary production varied from 459 to 2491 g CO2 m-2 yr-1, ecosystem respiration from 996 to 1881 g CO2 m-2 yr-1, and net ecosystem exchange from -537 (source) to +610 g CO2 m-2 yr-1 (sink). Maximum brutto daily light-use efficiencies, Ed,max=Pg/Q were in the range 0.014 to 0.032 mol CO2 (mol quanta)-1. Ten-day average Pg, was significantly more highly correlated with NDVI than 10-day average daytime flux, Pd (R2=0.46 to 0.77 for Pg-NDVI and 0.05 to 0.58 for Pd-NDVI relationships). 10-day average Re, was also positively correlated with NDVI, with R2 values from 0.57 to 0.77. Patterns of relationships of Pg and Re to NDVI and other factors indicate possibilities for establishing multivariate functions allowing scaling-up local fluxes to larger areas using GIS data, temporal NDVI, and other factors.