Global and time-resolved monitoring of crop photosynthesis with chlorophyll fluorescence.

ABSTRACT: Photosynthesis is the process by which plants harvest sunlight to produce sugars from carbon dioxide and water. It is the primary source of energy for all life on Earth; hence it is important to understand how this process responds to climate change and human impact. However, model-based estimates of gross primary production (GPP, output from photosynthesis) are highly uncertain, in particular over heavily managed agricultural areas. Recent advances in spectroscopy enable the space-based monitoring of sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) from terrestrial plants. Here we demonstrate that spaceborne SIF retrievals provide a direct measure of the GPP of cropland and grassland ecosystems. Such a strong link with crop photosynthesis is not evident for traditional remotely sensed vegetatio

SUBMITTER: Guanter L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3986187 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature