Project Funding: 2008 - 2011

NRA: 2007 NASA: Carbon Cycle Science   

Funded by NASA

Abstract:
Uncertainty in future terrestrial ecosystem carbon exchange remains one of the dominant uncertainties in prediction of future climatic change. This project sought to test, at high spatial resolution, our ability to up-scale flux tower measurements across the northern temperate forests of northern Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan using the four-tiered sampling approach. We propose to identify the main sources of uncertainty associated with the light use efficiency approach in northern temperate forest landscapes, to add flux tower assimilation and understanding of sub-pixel complexity to the approach, and to extend and evaluate this approach beyond the northern temperature forest ecoregion. We will also use this approach to evaluate the ability of predictive (rather than diagnostic) models to create accurate regional flux estimates. In particular we propose to: i) implement this method for the northern temperate forest ecoregion most representative of the ChEAS domain, providing a comprehensive probabilistic flux estimate for the entire region, quantification of uncertainty reduction over current methods and independent evaluation of our regional flux estimate; ii) extend the method beyond this ecoregion to examine whether or not the observational approach employed could, given appropriate high resolution land cover and forest stocking data, be extended to other forested landscapes such as the boreal forests of Canada or eastern temperate forests of the U.S., and iii) test the ability of the more complex ecosystem models typically used for prediction (e.g. BIOME BGC) rather than diagnosis, to be integrated into this diagnostic framework, thus working towards regional-scale data-validated terrestrial carbon cycle predictions. Finally, we will establish a framework suitable for evaluating modifications to this regional flux diagnostic approach, including new regional input data and alternative model formulations.

Publications:

Xiao, J., Davis, K. J., Urban, N. M., Keller, K. 2014. Uncertainty in model parameters and regional carbon fluxes: A model-data fusion approach. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 189-190, 175-186. DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2014.01.022

Xiao, J., Davis, K. J., Urban, N. M., Keller, K., Saliendra, N. Z. 2011. Upscaling carbon fluxes from towers to the regional scale: Influence of parameter variability and land cover representation on regional flux estimates. Journal of Geophysical Research. 116(G3). DOI: 10.1029/2010JG001568

Xiao, J., Chen, J., Davis, K. J., Reichstein, M. 2012. Advances in upscaling of eddy covariance measurements of carbon and water fluxes. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences. 117(G1). DOI: 10.1029/2011JG001889

Cook, B. D., Bolstad, P. V., Martin, J. G., Heinsch, F. A., Davis, K. J., Wang, W., Desai, A. R., Teclaw, R. M. 2007. Using Light-Use and Production Efficiency Models to Predict Photosynthesis and Net Carbon Exchange During Forest Canopy Disturbance. Ecosystems. 11(1), 26-44. DOI: 10.1007/s10021-007-9105-0

Desai, A. R., Noormets, A., Bolstad, P. V., Chen, J., Cook, B. D., Davis, K. J., Euskirchen, E. S., Gough, C., Martin, J. G., Ricciuto, D. M., Schmid, H. P., Tang, J., Wang, W. 2008. Influence of vegetation and seasonal forcing on carbon dioxide fluxes across the Upper Midwest, USA: Implications for regional scaling. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 148(2), 288-308. DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2007.08.001

Desai, A. R., Richardson, A. D., Moffat, A. M., Kattge, J., Hollinger, D. Y., Barr, A., Falge, E., Noormets, A., Papale, D., Reichstein, M., Stauch, V. J. 2008. Cross-site evaluation of eddy covariance GPP and RE decomposition techniques. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 148(6-7), 821-838. DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2007.11.012

Noormets, A., Desai, A. R., Cook, B. D., Euskirchen, E. S., Ricciuto, D. M., Davis, K. J., Bolstad, P. V., Schmid, H. P., Vogel, C. V., Carey, E. V., Su, H. B., Chen, J. 2008. Moisture sensitivity of ecosystem respiration: Comparison of 14 forest ecosystems in the Upper Great Lakes Region, USA. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 148(2), 216-230. DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2007.08.002

Tang, J., Bolstad, P. V., Desai, A. R., Martin, J. G., Cook, B. D., Davis, K. J., Carey, E. V. 2008. Ecosystem respiration and its components in an old-growth forest in the Great Lakes region of the United States. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 148(2), 171-185. DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2007.08.008

2011 NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Joint Science Workshop Poster(s)

• Upscaling Carbon Fluxes and Uncertainty Across the Northern Forest Ecoregion Using a Hierarchical Bayesian Approach   --   (Kusum J Naithani, Kenneth James Davis, Klaus Keller, Jingfeng Xiao, Nathan Urban, Paul Bolstad, Dong Hua)   [abstract]

2010 NASA Terrestrial Ecology Science Team Meeting Poster(s)

• Probabilistic Carbon Flux Upscaling Across a Northern Forest Ecoregion   --   (Jingfeng Xiao, Kenneth J Davis, Kusum J Naithani, Nathan Urban, Klaus Keller, Ankur Desai, Jiquan Chen, Asko Noormets, Kelly Cherrey, Bruce Cook, Paul Bolstad, Dong Hua, Ryan Anderson, Steven Running, Nicanor Saliendra, Randy Kolka, Peter Weishampel)   [abstract]

2008 NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Joint Science Workshop Posters

• Probabilistic carbon flux upscaling in a complex northern forest ecoregion   --   (K J Davis, P V Bolstad, R Anderson, K Cherrey, B D Cook, A R Desai, F A Heinsch, R Kolka, S W Running, N Z Saliendra, P Weishampel)   [abstract]   [poster]

More details may be found in the following project profile(s):

• NASA Terrestrial Ecology (TE) Project Profile
• North American Carbon Program (NACP) Project Profile