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Prototyping MuSLI canopy Chlorophyll Content for Assessment of Vegetation Function and Productivity
Project Start Date
05/01/2018
Project End Date
05/01/2022
Grant Number
80NSSC18K0337
Solicitation
default

Team Members:

Person Name Person role on project Affiliation
Petya Campbell Principal Investigator NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, United States
Christopher Neigh Co-Investigator NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, USA
Jana Albrechtova Co-Investigator Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science, Prague, Czech Republic
Karl Fred Huemmrich Co-Investigator UMBC/JCET, Greenbelt, US
Elizabeth M Middleton Co-Investigator Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory, Greenbelt, US
Abstract

Land cover use practices and the ongoing human activities and climate changes have significantly affected agricultural and forest productivity by imposing severe and novel combinations of multiple stresses on the natural ecosystems. There is a strong need to develop an approach for quantifying the spateo-temporal changes in vegetation condition and photosynthetic function at moderate ground resolution (20-30 m) across large regional/continental/global scales. In the spring of 2015 ESA’s Sentinel-2 (S-2) satellite joined NASA’s Landsat-8 (L-8) in providing moderate-resolution, multispectral measurements with global extent, therefore increasing the temporal resolution of such data. We propose to use the recently developed homogenized L-8 and S-2 (HLS) high-frequency time series to develop a new canopy chlorophyll content product, and to evaluate the seasonal changes in land cover chlorophyll content and associated productivity for key agricultural crops, grasslands and forested ecosystems. The key objectives of the proposed effort are to: 1) using in a seamless fashion the dense time series of HLS, L-8 and S-2 images to develop algorithms for estimating canopy chlorophyll (Chl) content; and 2) generate robust workflows and produce high density time series of land cover Chl products for major vegetation cover types (crops, grasslands and forests). Earlier studies using individual Landsat scenes (e.g. Landsats TM and ETM+) were not able to detect the early stages in vegetation damage. Those studies only partially accounted for variations in atmospheric conditions, terrain elevation and illumination. Using the improved spectral resolution of the HLS L-8 and S-2 data (narrower red edge bands and additional blue, near-infrared, short-infrared and thermal bands), complemented with very high resolution (2 m) World View images/triplets to characterize canopy variations and structural effects, we will produce dense time series of vegetation indices and Chl products sensitive to the fine changes in chlorophyll content for improved monitoring of agricultural crops and forest biomass production. To generate robust workflows, the algorithms will be tested, refined and validated at established research areas and instrumented sites representing major agricultural crops and forested ecosystems. We will use the L-8 thermal bands (TIRS1) to quantify the effects from changes in Chl content and vegetation damage on agricultural and forest productivity, comparing the phenology trends in canopy Chl, TIRS1 and ecosystem primary production, as measured at the sites. By analyzing these coupled dense time series, we will provide essential information about the major biophysical drivers of vegetation health and function. This effort leverages the ongoing international collaborations between USA and European Union researchers, which will provide expertise and satellite imagery available at their organizations as well as field spectral data obtained from established sites with on-going field data collections. The proposed work directly supports the goals of NASA’s LCLUC program, to further "develop the capability for periodic satellite-based inventories of land cover, and monitoring and characterizing land-cover and land-use change." This effort provides a significant step forward towards developing an approach and tools for evaluation of vegetation health and photosynthetic function at 30 m resolution, that will enhance our ability to identify the drivers and quantify the rates of land cover change for critical vegetation types across the globe. This enhanced capability will greatly improve the information available for timely management decisions that have potential to reduce the associated agricultural, economic and climate impacts of environmental and anthropogenic factors.

Project Research Area

Project Documents

Year Authors Type Title
2021 Publications Yang, P., van der Tol, C., Campbell, P. K. E., and Middleton, E. M.: Unraveling the physical and physiological basis for the solar- induced chlorophyll fluorescence and photosynthesis relationship using continuous leaf and canopy measurements of a corn crop, Biogeosciences, 18, 441–465, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-441-2021, 2021.
2021 Petya Campbell Philip Townsend Publications P. Campbell, P. Townsend, D. Mandl and J. MacKinnon, "Automated Uas Measurements of Reflectance and Solar Induced Florescence (SIF) for Assessment Of the Dinamics in Photosynthetic Function, Application for Maze (Zea Mays L.) in Greenbelt, Maryland, Us," 2021 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium IGARSS, 2021, pp. 8265-8268, doi: 10.1109/IGARSS47720.2021.9554902. IGARSS 2021 oral presentation
2021 Petya Campbell Karl Fred Huemmrich Publications Campbell, P.E.K., K.F. Huemmrich, E. M. Middleton2, J. Alfieri, C. van der Tol and C. R. Neigh 2021. Using DESIS and EO-1 Hyperion reflectance time series for the assessment of vegetation traits and gross primary productivity (GPP). In: Proceedings of the First DESIS User Workshop 9/28- 10/1 2021, GRSS-IEEE. Paper submitted on 10/21, currently under review.
2021 Petya Campbell Elizabeth M Middleton Publications Campbell, P.K.E., E. Middleton, F. Huemmrich, L. Ward, T. Julitta, P. Yang, C. van der Tol, C. Daughtry, A. Russ, J. Alfieri, W. Kustas 2021. Scaling photosynthetic function and CO2 dynamics from leaf to canopy level for maize – dataset combining diurnal and seasonal measurements of vegetation fluorescence, reflectance and vegetation indices with canopy gross ecosystem productivity. Data in Brief (DIB), published Nov 2021. DOI: 10.1016/J.DIB.2021.107600
2020 Petya Campbell NASA LCLUC Science Team Presentation Canopy Chlorophyll Content for Assessing Vegetation Function and Productivity
2020 Publications Joiner, J.; Yoshida, Y.; Köehler, P.; Campbell, P.; Frankenberg, C.; van der Tol, C.; Yang, P.; Parazoo, N.; Guanter, L. and Sun, Y. (2020). Systematic Orbital Geometry-Dependent Variations in Satellite Solar-Induced Fluorescence (SIF) Retrievals. Remote Sens. 2020, 12(15), 2346, https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12152346.
2020 Publications Yang, P.; van der Tol, ; Campbell, P. K.E.; and Middleton, E. M. (2020). Fluorescence Correction Vegetation Index (FCVI): A physically based reflectance index to separate physiological and non-physiological information in far-red sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence. Remote Sensing of Environment, Volume 240, 2020, 111676, ISSN 0034-4257, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2020.111676.
2019 Petya Campbell NASA LCLUC Science Team Presentation Evaluation of High Resolution Data for LCLUC Science-Campbell
2019 Karl Fred Huemmrich Petya Campbell Publications Huemmrich, K.F.; Campbell, P.K.E.; Landis, D.; Middleton, E.M (2019). Developing a common globally applicable method for optical remote sensing of ecosystem light use efficiency. Remote Sensing of Environment, Volume 230, 2019, 111190, 14 p., ISSN 0034-4257. 10.1016/j.rse.2019.05.009.
2019 Petya Campbell Karl Fred Huemmrich Publications Campbell, P.K.E.; Huemmrich, K.F.; Middleton, E.M.; Ward, L.A.; Julitta, T.; Daughtry, C.; Burcart, A.; Russ, A.L.; Kustas, W.P. (2019). Diurnal and Seasonal Variations in Chlorophyll Fluorescence Associated with Photosynthesis at Leaf and Canopy Scales. Remote Sens. 2019, Special Issue Quantifying and Validating Remote Sensing Measurements of Chlorophyll Fluorescence, 11(5), 488. DOI: 10.3390/rs11050488.
2019 Petya Campbell NASA LCLUC Science Team Presentation Canopy Chlorophyl Content for Assessing Vegetation Function and Productivity
2018 Elizabeth M Middleton Karl Fred Huemmrich Publications E. M. Middleton, K. F. Huemmrich, Q. Zhang, P. K.E. Campbell, and D. R. Landis (2018). Photosynthetic Efficiency and Vegetation Stress. In: Biophysical and Biochemical Characterization and Plant Species Studies, Book Chapter 5, Editors: Prasad S. Thenkabail, John G. Lyon, Alfredo Huete