Browsing by Author "Hollinger, David Y."

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Albedo estimates for land surface models and support for a new paradigm based on foliage nitrogen concentration
(2010-02) Hollinger, David Y.; Ollinger, S. V.; Richardson, Andrew D.; Meyers, T. P.; Dail, D. B.; Martin, M. E.; Scott, N. A.; Arkebauer, T. J.; Baldocchi, Dennis D.; Clark, K. L.; Curtis, P. S.; Desai, Ankur R.; Dragoni, Danilo; Goulden, Michael L.; Gu, Lianhong; Katul, Gabriel G.; Pallardy, S. G.; Paw U, Kyaw Tha; Schmid, H. P.; Stoy, Paul C.; Suyker, Andrew E.; Verma, Shashi B.
Vegetation albedo is a critical component of the Earth's climate system, yet efforts to evaluate and improve albedo parameterizations in climate models have lagged relative to other aspects of model development. Here, we calculated growing season albedos for deciduous and evergreen forests, crops, and grasslands based on over 40 site‐years of data from the AmeriFlux network and compared them with estimates presently used in the land surface formulations of a variety of climate models. Generally, the albedo estimates used in land surface models agreed well with this data compilation. However, a variety of models using fixed seasonal estimates of albedo overestimated the growing season albedo of northerly evergreen trees. In contrast, climate models that rely on a common two‐stream albedo submodel provided accurate predictions of boreal needle‐leaf evergreen albedo but overestimated grassland albedos. Inverse analysis showed that parameters of the two‐stream model were highly correlated. Consistent with recent observations based on remotely sensed albedo, the AmeriFlux dataset demonstrated a tight linear relationship between canopy albedo and foliage nitrogen concentration (for forest vegetation: albedo=0.01+0.071%N, r2=0.91; forests, grassland, and maize: albedo=0.02+0.067%N, r2=0.80). However, this relationship saturated at the higher nitrogen concentrations displayed by soybean foliage. We developed similar relationships between a foliar parameter used in the two‐stream albedo model and foliage nitrogen concentration. These nitrogen‐based relationships can serve as the basis for a new approach to land surface albedo modeling that simplifies albedo estimation while providing a link to other important ecosystem processes.
Characterizing the performance of ecosystem models across time scales: A spectral analysis of the North American Carbon Program site‐level synthesis
(2011-12-20) Dietze, Michael C.; Vargas, Rodrigo; Richardson, Andrew D.; Stoy, Paul C.; Barr, Alan G.; Anderson, Ryan S.; M. Altaf Arain, M. Altaf; Baker, Ian T.; Blac, T. Andrew; Chen, Jing M.; Ciais, Philippe; Flanagan, Lawrence B.; Gough, Christopher M.; Grant, Robert F.; Hollinger, David Y.; Izaurralde, R. Cesar; Kucharik, Christopher J.; Lafleur, Peter; Liu, Shuguang; Lokupitiya, Erandathie; Luo, Yiqi; Munger, J. William; Peng, Changhui; Poulter, Benjamin; Price, David T.; Ricciuto, Daniel M.; Riley, William J.; Sahoo, Alok Kumar; Schaefer, Kevin; Suyker, Andrew E.; Tain, Hanqin; Tonitto, Christina; Verbeeck, Hans; Verma, Shashi B.; Weifeng, Wang; Weng, Ensheng
Ecosystem models are important tools for diagnosing the carbon cycle and projecting its behavior across space and time. Despite the fact that ecosystems respond to drivers at multiple time scales, most assessments of model performance do not discriminate different time scales. Spectral methods, such as wavelet analyses, present an alternative approach that enables the identification of the dominant time scales contributing to model performance in the frequency domain. In this study we used wavelet analyses to synthesize the performance of 21 ecosystem models at 9 eddy covariance towers as part of the North American Carbon Program's site-level intercomparison. This study expands upon previous single-site and single-model analyses to determine what patterns of model error are consistent across a diverse range of models and sites. To assess the significance of model error at different time scales, a novel Monte Carlo approach was developed to incorporate flux observation error. Failing to account for observation error leads to a misidentification of the time scales that dominate model error. These analyses show that model error (1) is largest at the annual and 20–120 day scales, (2) has a clear peak at the diurnal scale, and (3) shows large variability among models in the 2–20 day scales. Errors at the annual scale were consistent across time, diurnal errors were predominantly during the growing season, and intermediate-scale errors were largely event driven. Breaking spectra into discrete temporal bands revealed a significant model-by-band effect but also a nonsignificant model-by-site effect, which together suggest that individual models show consistency in their error patterns. Differences among models were related to model time step, soil hydrology, and the representation of photosynthesis and phenology but not the soil carbon or nitrogen cycles. These factors had the greatest impact on diurnal errors, were less important at annual scales, and had the least impact at intermediate time scales.
Deriving a light use efficiency model from eddy covariance flux data for predicting daily gross primary production across biomes
(2007-04) Yuan, Wenping; Liu, Shuguang; Zhou, Guangsheng; Zhou, Guoyi; Tieszen, Larry L.; Baldocchi, Dennis D.; Bernhofer, Christian; Gholz, Henry; Goldstein, Allen H.; Goulden, Michael L.; Hollinger, David Y.; Hu, Yueming; Law, Beverly E.; Stoy, Paul C.; Vesala, Timo; Wofsy, Steven C.
The quantitative simulation of gross primary production (GPP) at various spatial and temporal scales has been a major challenge in quantifying the global carbon cycle. We developed a light use efficiency (LUE) daily GPP model from eddy covariance (EC) measurements. The model, called EC-LUE, is driven by only four variables: normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), air temperature, and the Bowen ratio of sensible to latent heat flux (used to calculate moisture stress). The EC-LUE model relies on two assumptions: First, that the fraction of absorbed PAR (fPAR) is a linear function of NDVI; Second, that the realized light use efficiency, calculated from a biome-independent invariant potential LUE, is controlled by air temperature or soil moisture, whichever is most limiting. The EC-LUE model was calibrated and validated using 24,349 daily GPP estimates derived from 28 eddy covariance flux towers from the AmeriFlux and EuroFlux networks, covering a variety of forests, grasslands and savannas. The model explained 85% and 77% of the observed variations of daily GPP for all the calibration and validation sites, respectively. A comparison with GPP calculated from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) indicated that the EC-LUE model predicted GPP that better matched tower data across these sites. The realized LUE was predominantly controlled by moisture conditions throughout the growing season, and controlled by temperature only at the beginning and end of the growing season. The EC-LUE model is an alternative approach that makes it possible to map daily GPP over large areas because (1) the potential LUE is invariant across various land cover types and (2) all driving forces of the model can be derived from remote sensing data or existing climate observation networks.
Evaluating the agreement between measurements and models of net ecosystem exchange at different times and time scales using wavelet coherence: an example using data from the North American Carbon Program Site-Level Interim Synthesis
(2013-11) Stoy, Paul C.; Dietze, Michael C.; Richardson, Andrew D.; Vargas, Rodrigo; Barr, Alan G.; Anderson, R. S.; Arain, M. Altaf; Baker, Ian T.; Black, T. A; Chen, Jing M.; Cook, R. B.; Gough, Christopher M.; Grant, Robert F.; Hollinger, David Y.; Izaurralde, R. Cesar; Kucharik, Christopher J.; Lafleur, Peter; Law, Beverly E.; Liu, Shuguang; Lokupitiya, Erandathie; Luo, Yiqi; Munger, J. William; Peng, Changhui; Poulter, Benjamin; Price, David T.; Ricciuto, Daniel M.; Riley, William J.; Sahoo, Alok Kumar; Schaefer, Kevin; Schwalm, C. R.; Tian, Hui; Verbeeck, Hans; Weng, Ensheng
Earth system processes exhibit complex patterns across time, as do the models that seek to replicate these processes. Model output may or may not be significantly related to observations at different times and on different frequencies. Conventional model diagnostics provide an aggregate view of model–data agreement, but usually do not identify the time and frequency patterns of model–data disagreement, leaving unclear the steps required to improve model response to environmental drivers that vary on characteristic frequencies. Wavelet coherence can quantify the times and timescales at which two time series, for example time series of models and measurements, are significantly different. We applied wavelet coherence to interpret the predictions of 20 ecosystem models from the North American Carbon Program (NACP) Site-Level Interim Synthesis when confronted with eddy-covariance-measured net ecosystem exchange (NEE) from 10 ecosystems with multiple years of available data. Models were grouped into classes with similar approaches for incorporating phenology, the calculation of NEE, the inclusion of foliar nitrogen (N), and the use of model–data fusion. Models with prescribed, rather than prognostic, phenology often fit NEE observations better on annual to interannual timescales in grassland, wetland and agricultural ecosystems. Models that calculated NEE as net primary productivity (NPP) minus heterotrophic respiration (HR) rather than gross ecosystem productivity (GPP) minus ecosystem respiration (ER) fit better on annual timescales in grassland and wetland ecosystems, but models that calculated NEE as GPP minus ER were superior on monthly to seasonal timescales in two coniferous forests. Models that incorporated foliar nitrogen (N) data were successful at capturing NEE variability on interannual (multiple year) timescales at Howland Forest, Maine. The model that employed a model–data fusion approach often, but not always, resulted in improved fit to data, suggesting that improving model parameterization is important but not the only step for improving model performance. Combined with previous findings, our results suggest that the mechanisms driving daily and annual NEE variability tend to be correctly simulated, but the magnitude of these fluxes is often erroneous, suggesting that model parameterization must be improved. Few NACP models correctly predicted fluxes on seasonal and interannual timescales where spectral energy in NEE observations tends to be low, but where phenological events, multi-year oscillations in climatological drivers, and ecosystem succession are known to be important for determining ecosystem function. Mechanistic improvements to models must be made to replicate observed NEE variability on seasonal and interannual timescales.
Evaluation of remote sensing based terrestrial productivity from MODIS using regional tower eddy flux network observations
(2006-07) Heinsch, Faith A.; Zhao, Maosheng; Running, Steven W.; Kimball, John S.; Nemani, Ramakrishna R.; Davis, Kenneth J.; Cook, Bruce D.; Desai, Ankur R.; Ricciuto, Daniel M.; Law, Beverly E.; Oechel, Walter C.; Kwon, Hyojung; Wofsy, Steven C.; Dunn, Allison L.; Munger, J. William; Baldocchi, Dennis D.; Xu, Liukang; Hollinger, David Y.; Richardson, Andrew D.; Stoy, Paul C.; Siqueira, Mario B. S.; Monson, Russell K.; Burns, Sean P.; Flanagan, Lawrence B.; Bolstad, Paul V.; Luo, Hongyan
The Moderate Resolution Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor has provided near real-time estimates of gross primary production (GPP) since March 2000. We compare four years (2000 to 2003) of satellite-based calculations of GPP with tower eddy CO2 flux-based estimates across diverse land cover types and climate regimes. We examine the potential error contributions from meteorology, leaf area index (LAI)/fPAR, and land cover. The error between annual GPP computed from NASA's Data Assimilation Office's (DAO) and tower-based meteorology is 28%, indicating that NASA's DAO global meteorology plays an important role in the accuracy of the GPP algorithm. Approximately 62% of MOD15-based estimates of LAI were within the estimates based on field optical measurements, although remaining values overestimated site values. Land cover presented the fewest errors, with most errors within the forest classes, reducing potential error. Tower-based and MODIS estimates of annual GPP compare favorably for most biomes, although MODIS GPP overestimates tower-based calculations by 20%-30%. Seasonally, summer estimates of MODIS GPP are closest to tower data, and spring estimates are the worst, most likely the result of the relatively rapid onset of leaf-out. The results of this study indicate, however, that the current MODIS GPP algorithm shows reasonable spatial patterns and temporal variability across a diverse range of biomes and climate regimes. So, while continued efforts are needed to isolate particular problems in specific biomes, we are optimistic about the general quality of these data, and continuation of the MOD17 GPP product will likely provide a key component of global terrestrial ecosystem analysis, providing continuous weekly measurements of global vegetation production
Improving land surface models with FLUXNET data
(2009-07) Williams, Mathew; Richardson, Andrew D.; Reichstein, M.; Stoy, Paul C.; Peylin, Phili; Verbeeck, Hans; Carvalhais, N.; Jung, Martin; Hollinger, David Y.; Kattge, J.; Leuning, R.; Luo, Yiqi; Tomelleri, E.; Trudinger, C.; Wang, Ying-Ping
There is a growing consensus that land surface models (LSMs) that simulate terrestrial biosphere exchanges of matter and energy must be better constrained with data to quantify and address their uncertainties. FLUXNET, an international network of sites that measure the land surface exchanges of carbon, water and energy using the eddy covariance technique, is a prime source of data for model improvement. Here we outline a multi-stage process for "fusing" (i.e. linking) LSMs with FLUXNET data to generate better models with quantifiable uncertainty. First, we describe FLUXNET data availability, and its random and systematic biases. We then introduce methods for assessing LSM model runs against FLUXNET observations in temporal and spatial domains. These assessments are a prelude to more formal model-data fusion (MDF). MDF links model to data, based on error weightings. In theory, MDF produces optimal analyses of the modelled system, but there are practical problems. We first discuss how to set model errors and initial conditions. In both cases incorrect assumptions will affect the outcome of the MDF. We then review the problem of equifinality, whereby multiple combinations of parameters can produce similar model output. Fusing multiple independent and orthogonal data provides a means to limit equifinality. We then show how parameter probability density functions (PDFs) from MDF can be used to interpret model validity, and to propagate errors into model outputs. Posterior parameter distributions are a useful way to assess the success of MDF, combined with a determination of whether model residuals are Gaussian. If the MDF scheme provides evidence for temporal variation in parameters, then that is indicative of a critical missing dynamic process. A comparison of parameter PDFs generated with the same model from multiple FLUXNET sites can provide insights into the concept and validity of plant functional types (PFT) – we would expect similar parameter estimates among sites sharing a single PFT. We conclude by identifying five major model-data fusion challenges for the FLUXNET and LSM communities: (1) to determine appropriate use of current data and to explore the information gained in using longer time series; (2) to avoid confounding effects of missing process representation on parameter estimation; (3) to assimilate more data types, including those from earth observation; (4) to fully quantify uncertainties arising from data bias, model structure, and initial conditions problems; and (5) to carefully test current model concepts (e.g. PFTs) and guide development of new concepts.
Linking flux network measurements to continental scale simulations: Ecosystem gas exchange capacity along a European transect under non-water-stressed conditions
(2007-01) Owen, Katherine E.; Tenhunen, John; Reichstein, Markus; Wang, Quan; Falge, Eva; Geyer, Ralf; Xiao, Xiangming; Stoy, Paul C.; Ammann, Christof; Arain, M. Altaf; Aubinet, Marc; Aurela, Mika; Bernhofer, Christian; Chojnicki, Bogdan H.; Granier, Andre; Gruenwald, Thomas; Hadley, Julian; Heinesch, Bernard; Hollinger, David Y.; Knohl, Alexander; Kutsch, Werner L.; Lohila, Annalea; Meyers, Tilden P.; Moors, Eddy J.; Moureaux, Christine; Pilegaard, Kim; Saigusa, Nobuko; Verma, Shashi B.; Vesala, Timo; Vogel, Chris
This paper examines long‐term eddy covariance data from 18 European and 17 North American and Asian forest, wetland, tundra, grassland, and cropland sites under non‐water‐stressed conditions with an empirical rectangular hyperbolic light response model and a single layer two light‐class carboxylase‐based model. Relationships according to ecosystem functional type are demonstrated between empirical and physiological parameters, suggesting linkages between easily estimated parameters and those with greater potential for process interpretation. Relatively sparse documentation of leaf area index dynamics at flux tower sites is found to be a major difficulty in model inversion and flux interpretation. Therefore, a simplification of the physiological model is carried out for a subset of European network sites with extensive ancillary data. The results from these selected sites are used to derive a new parameter and means for comparing empirical and physiologically based methods across all sites, regardless of ancillary data. The results from the European analysis are then compared with results from the other Northern Hemisphere sites and similar relationships for the simplified process‐based parameter were found to hold for European, North American, and Asian temperate and boreal climate zones. This parameter is useful for bridging between flux network observations and continental scale spatial simulations of vegetation/atmosphere carbon dioxide exchange.
A multi-site analysis of random error in tower-based measurements of carbon and energy fluxes
(2006-01) Richardson, Andrew D.; Hollinger, David Y.; Burba, George G.; Davis, Kenneth J.; Lawrence B., Flanagan; Katul, Gabriel G.; Munger, J. William; Ricciuto, Daniel M.; Stoy, Paul C.; Suyker, Andrew E.; Verma, Shashi B.; Wofsy, Steven C.
Measured surface-atmosphere fluxes of energy (sensible heat, H, and latent heat, LE) and CO2 (FCO2) represent the “true” flux plus or minus potential random and systematic measurement errors. Here, we use data from seven sites in the AmeriFlux network, including five forested sites (two of which include “tall tower” instrumentation), one grassland site, and one agricultural site, to conduct a cross-site analysis of random flux error. Quantification of this uncertainty is a prerequisite to model-data synthesis (data assimilation) and for defining confidence intervals on annual sums of net ecosystem exchange or making statistically valid comparisons between measurements and model predictions. We differenced paired observations (separated by exactly 24 h, under similar environmental conditions) to infer the characteristics of the random error in measured fluxes. Random flux error more closely follows a double-exponential (Laplace), rather than a normal (Gaussian), distribution, and increase as a linear function of the magnitude of the flux for all three scalar fluxes. Across sites, variation in the random error follows consistent and robust patterns in relation to environmental variables. For example, seasonal differences in the random error for H are small, in contrast to both LE and FCO2, for which the random errors are roughly three-fold larger at the peak of the growing season compared to the dormant season. Random errors also generally scale with Rn (H and LE) and PPFD (FCO2). For FCO2 (but not H or LE), the random error decreases with increasing wind speed. Data from two sites suggest that FCO2 random error may be slightly smaller when a closed-path, rather than open-path, gas analyzer is used.
Thermal optimality of net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide and underlying mechanisms
(2012-03-07) Niu, Shuli; Luo, Yiqi; Fei, Shenfeng; Yuan, Wenping; Schimel, David; Law, Beverly E.; Ammann, Christof; Arain, M. Altaf; Arneth, Almut; Aubinet, Marc; Barr, Alan G.; Beringer, Jason; Bernhofer, Christian; Black, T. Andrew; Buchmann, Nina; Cescatti, Alessandro; Chen, Jiquan; Davis, Kenneth J.; Dellwik, Ebba; Desai, Ankur R.; Etzold, Sophia; Francois, Louis; Gianelle, Damiano; Gielen, Bert; Goldstein, Allen; Groenendijk, Margriet; Gu, Lianhong; Hanan, Niall; Helfter, Carole; Hirano, Takashi; Hollinger, David Y.; Jones, Mike B.; Kiely, Gerard; Kolb, Thomas E.; Kutsch, Werner L.; Lafleur, Peter; Lawrence, David M.; Li, Linghao; Lindroth, Anders; Litvak, Marcy; Loustau, Denis; Lund, Magnus; Marek, Michal; Martin, Timothy A.; Matteucci, Giorgio; Migliavacca, Mirco; Montagnani, Leonardo; Moors, Eddy; Munger, J. William; Noormets, Asko; Oechel, Walter C.; Olejnik, Janusz; Pilegaard, Kim; Paw U, Kyaw Tha; Pilegaard, Kim; Rambal, Serge; Raschi, Antonio; Scott, Russell L.; Seufert, Günther; Spano, Donatella; Stoy, Paul C.; Sutton, Mark A.; Varlagin, Andrej; Vesala, Timo; Weng, Ensheng; Wohlfahrt, Georg; Yang, Bai; Zhang, Zhongda; Zhou, Xuhui
It is well established that individual organisms can acclimate and adapt to temperature to optimize their functioning. However, thermal optimization of ecosystems, as an assemblage of organisms, has not been examined at broad spatial and temporal scales. Here, we compiled data from 169 globally distributed sites of eddy covariance and quantified the temperature response functions of net ecosystem exchange (NEE), an ecosystem-level property, to determine whether NEE shows thermal optimality and to explore the underlying mechanisms. We found that the temperature response of NEE followed a peak curve, with the optimum temperature (corresponding to the maximum magnitude of NEE) being positively correlated with annual mean temperature over years and across sites. Shifts of the optimum temperature of NEE were mostly a result of temperature acclimation of gross primary productivity (upward shift of optimum temperature) rather than changes in the temperature sensitivity of ecosystem respiration. Ecosystem-level thermal optimality is a newly revealed ecosystem property, presumably reflecting associated evolutionary adaptation of organisms within ecosystems, and has the potential to significantly regulate ecosystemclimate change feedbacks. The thermal optimality of NEE has implications for understanding fundamental properties of ecosystems in changing environments and benchmarking global models.