Project Funding: 2015 - 2019

NRA: 2014 NASA: Terrestrial Ecology   

Funded by NASA

Abstract:
We will apply a satellite data driven carbon model framework to improve understanding and quantification of carbon (CO2 and CH4) fluxes and environmental controls on the net ecosystem carbon budget (NECB) over the ABoVE domain. We will develop a foundational database to explore and quantify links between changing surface conditions, including freeze-thaw (FT) regimes, soil moisture and open water inundation, and Arctic-boreal carbon fluxes. These data will link local tower site observations with CARVE airborne atmospheric CO2 and CH4 measurements and other land parameters derived from satellite optical and microwave remote sensing to clarify surface moisture and thermal constraints to vegetation growth and soil carbon cycling. We will apply these data within a terrestrial carbon flux (TCF) model to quantify the NECB, component carbon fluxes and underlying environmental drivers. Model sensitivity studies will be conducted at site, local and regional scales in context with remote sensing observations to document model uncertainties and scaling properties of critical drivers. These results will be used to improve model representations of sub-grid scale processes affecting carbon flux estimates, while incorporating regional model enhancements representing wildfire disturbance recovery and wetland CH4 emissions. Results will include verified NECB maps, component carbon fluxes and environmental drivers with daily temporal fidelity, 1-km spatial resolution and 14+ year (2003-2016) data records. This study addresses several ABoVE science questions, including: Ã'Â"How are the magnitudes, fates, and land-atmosphere exchanges of carbon pools responding to environmental change, and what are the biogeochemical mechanisms driving these changes?Ã'Â" We also address ABoVE objectives for Ã'Â"elucidating how climate change and disturbances interact and alter land atmosphere carbon exchange.Ã'Â" This study meets Phase I priorities for developing Ã'Â"a set of readily accessible, validated data products derived from multiple sensors that can be integrated to form the basis for investigations of ecosystem and societal response over the entire Study Domain.Ã'Â" We will also contribute model sensitivity and validation activities supporting ABoVE Phase II and III activities, with direct applications to NASA SMAP and CARVE missions.

Publications:

Du, J., Kimball, J. S., Duguay, C., Kim, Y., Watts, J. D. 2017. Satellite microwave assessment of Northern Hemisphere lake ice phenology from 2002 to 2015. The Cryosphere. 11(1), 47-63. DOI: 10.5194/tc-11-47-2017

Kim, Y., Kimball, J. S., Du, J., Schaaf, C. L. B., Kirchner, P. B. 2018. Quantifying the effects of freeze-thaw transitions and snowpack melt on land surface albedo and energy exchange over Alaska and Western Canada. Environmental Research Letters. 13(7), 075009. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/aacf72

Kim, Y., Kimball, J. S., Xu, X., Dunbar, R. S., Colliander, A., Derksen, C. 2019. Global Assessment of the SMAP Freeze/Thaw Data Record and Regional Applications for Detecting Spring Onset and Frost Events. Remote Sensing. 11(11), 1317. DOI: 10.3390/rs11111317

Liu, Z., Kimball, J. S., Parazoo, N. C., Ballantyne, A. P., Wang, W. J., Madani, N., Pan, C. G., Watts, J. D., Reichle, R. H., Sonnentag, O., Marsh, P., Hurkuck, M., Helbig, M., Quinton, W. L., Zona, D., Ueyama, M., Kobayashi, H., Euskirchen, E. S. 2019. Increased high-latitude photosynthetic carbon gain offset by respiration carbon loss during an anomalous warm winter to spring transition. Global Change Biology. 26(2), 682-696. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14863

Pan, C. G., Kirchner, P. B., Kimball, J. S., Kim, Y., Du, J. 2018. Rain-on-snow events in Alaska, their frequency and distribution from satellite observations. Environmental Research Letters. 13(7), 075004. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/aac9d3

Parazoo, N. C., Arneth, A., Pugh, T. A. M., Smith, B., Steiner, N., Luus, K., Commane, R., Benmergui, J., Stofferahn, E., Liu, J., Rodenbeck, C., Kawa, R., Euskirchen, E., Zona, D., Arndt, K., Oechel, W., Miller, C. 2018. Spring photosynthetic onset and net CO 2 uptake in Alaska triggered by landscape thawing. Global Change Biology. 24(8), 3416-3435. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14283

Park, H., Watanabe, E., Kim, Y., Polyakov, I., Oshima, K., Zhang, X., Kimball, J. S., Yang, D. 2020. Increasing riverine heat influx triggers Arctic sea ice decline and oceanic and atmospheric warming. Science Advances. 6(45). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abc4699

Virkkala , A., Natali, S. M., Rogers, B. M., Watts, J. D., Savage, K., Connon, S. J., Mauritz, M., Schuur, E. A. G., Peter, D., Minions, C., Nojeim, J., Commane, R., Emmerton, C. A., Goeckede, M., Helbig, M., Holl, D., Iwata, H., Kobayashi, H., Kolari, P., Lopez-Blanco, E., Marushchak, M. E., Mastepanov, M., Merbold, L., Parmentier, F. W., Peichl, M., Sachs, T., Sonnentag, O., Ueyama, M., Voigt, C., Aurela, M., Boike, J., Celis, G., Chae, N., Christensen, T. R., Bret-Harte, M. S., Dengel, S., Dolman, H., Edgar, C. W., Elberling, B., Euskirchen, E., Grelle, A., Hatakka, J., Humphreys, E., Jarveoja, J., Kotani, A., Kutzbach, L., Laurila, T., Lohila, A., Mammarella, I., Matsuura, Y., Meyer, G., Nilsson, M. B., Oberbauer, S. F., Park, S., Petrov, R., Prokushkin, A. S., Schulze, C., St. Louis, V. L., Tuittila, E., Tuovinen, J., Quinton, W., Varlagin, A., Zona, D., Zyryanov, V. I. 2022. The ABCflux database: Arctic-boreal CO<sub>2</sub> flux observations and ancillary information aggregated to monthly time steps across terrestrial ecosystems. Earth System Science Data. 14(1), 179-208. DOI: 10.5194/essd-14-179-2022

Wilkman, E., Zona, D., Tang, Y., Gioli, B., Lipson, D. A., Oechel, W. 2018. Temperature Response of Respiration Across the Heterogeneous Landscape of the Alaskan Arctic Tundra. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences. 123(7), 2287-2302. DOI: 10.1029/2017jg004227

Yi Y, Kimball J S, Chen R H, Moghaddam M, Miller C E. 2019 Sensitivity of active-layer freezing process to snow cover in Arctic Alaska. The Cryosphere. 13(1), 197-218. DOI: 10.5194/tc-13-197-2019

Yi, Y., Kimball, J. S., Chen, R. H., Moghaddam, M., Reichle, R. H., Mishra, U., Zona, D., Oechel, W. C. 2018. Characterizing permafrost active layer dynamics and sensitivity to landscape spatial heterogeneity in Alaska. The Cryosphere. 12(1), 145-161. DOI: 10.5194/tc-12-145-2018

Zona, D., Lafleur, P. M., Hufkens, K., Bailey, B., Gioli, B., Burba, G., Goodrich, J. P., Liljedahl, A. K., Euskirchen, E. S., Watts, J. D., Farina, M., Kimball, J. S., Heimann, M., Gockede, M., Pallandt, M., Christensen, T. R., Mastepanov, M., Lopez-Blanco, E., Jackowicz-Korczynski, M., Dolman, A. J., Marchesini, L. B., Commane, R., Wofsy, S. C., Miller, C. E., Lipson, D. A., Hashemi, J., Arndt, K. A., Kutzbach, L., Holl, D., Boike, J., Wille, C., Sachs, T., Kalhori, A., Song, X., Xu, X., Humphreys, E. R., Koven, C. D., Sonnentag, O., Meyer, G., Gosselin, G. H., Marsh, P., Oechel, W. C. 2022. Earlier snowmelt may lead to late season declines in plant productivity and carbon sequestration in Arctic tundra ecosystems. Scientific Reports. 12(1). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-07561-1

Zona, D., Lafleur, P. M., Hufkens, K., Gioli, B., Bailey, B., Burba, G., Euskirchen, E. S., Watts, J. D., Arndt, K. A., Farina, M., Kimball, J. S., Heimann, M., Gockede, M., Pallandt, M., Christensen, T. R., Mastepanov, M., Lopez-Blanco, E., Dolman, A. J., Commane, R., Miller, C. E., Hashemi, J., Kutzbach, L., Holl, D., Boike, J., Wille, C., Sachs, T., Kalhori, A., Humphreys, E. R., Sonnentag, O., Meyer, G., Gosselin, G. H., Marsh, P., Oechel, W. C. 2022. Pan-Arctic soil moisture control on tundra carbon sequestration and plant productivity. Global Change Biology. 29(5), 1267-1281. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16487

Du, J., Kimball, J. S., Jones, L. A., Watts, J. D. 2016. Implementation of satellite based fractional water cover indices in the pan-Arctic region using AMSR-E and MODIS. Remote Sensing of Environment. 184, 469-481. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2016.07.029

Farhadi, L., Reichle, R. H., De Lannoy, G. J. M., Kimball, J. S. 2015. Assimilation of Freeze-Thaw Observations into the NASA Catchment Land Surface Model. Journal of Hydrometeorology. 16(2), 730-743. DOI: 10.1175/JHM-D-14-0065.1

Kim, Y., Kimball, J. S., Robinson, D. A., Derksen, C. 2015. New satellite climate data records indicate strong coupling between recent frozen season changes and snow cover over high northern latitudes. Environmental Research Letters. 10(8), 084004. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/10/8/084004

Park, H., Kim, Y., Kimball, J. S. 2016. Widespread permafrost vulnerability and soil active layer increases over the high northern latitudes inferred from satellite remote sensing and process model assessments. Remote Sensing of Environment. 175, 349-358. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2015.12.046

Park, H., Yoshikawa, Y., Oshima, K., Kim, Y., Ngo-Duc, T., Kimball, J. S., Yang, D. 2016. Quantification of Warming Climate-Induced Changes in Terrestrial Arctic River Ice Thickness and Phenology. Journal of Climate. 29(5), 1733-1754. DOI: 10.1175/JCLI-D-15-0569.1

Yi, Y., Kimball, J. S., Rawlins, M. A., Moghaddam, M., Euskirchen, E. S. 2015. The role of snow cover affecting boreal-arctic soil freeze-thaw and carbon dynamics. Biogeosciences. 12(19), 5811-5829. DOI: 10.5194/bg-12-5811-2015

Zona, D., Gioli, B., Commane, R., Lindaas, J., Wofsy, S. C., Miller, C. E., Dinardo, S. J., Dengel, S., Sweeney, C., Karion, A., Chang, R. Y., Henderson, J. M., Murphy, P. C., Goodrich, J. P., Moreaux, V., Liljedahl, A., Watts, J. D., Kimball, J. S., Lipson, D. A., Oechel, W. C. 2015. Cold season emissions dominate the Arctic tundra methane budget. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 113(1), 40-45. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1516017113

Lindsay, C., Zhu, J., Miller, A., Kirchner, P., Wilson, T. 2015. Deriving Snow Cover Metrics for Alaska from MODIS. Remote Sensing. 7(10), 12961-12985. DOI: 10.3390/rs71012961

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

• NASA Terrestrial Ecology (TE) Project Profile
• North American Carbon Program (NACP) Project Profile
• NASA Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) Project Profile