Plants produce and emit volatile organic compounds. Among these are biogenic hydrocarbons which are essential in ozone dynamics, carbon monoxide production, and methane oxidation. Plants also produce ...isoprene and monoterepenes. Isoprene protects plants from thermal radiation fluctuations.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NMLJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Accurately simulating gross primary productivity (GPP) in terrestrial ecosystem models is critical because errors in simulated GPP propagate through the model to introduce additional errors in ...simulated biomass and other fluxes. We evaluated simulated, daily average GPP from 26 models against estimated GPP at 39 eddy covariance flux tower sites across the United States and Canada. None of the models in this study match estimated GPP within observed uncertainty. On average, models overestimate GPP in winter, spring, and fall, and underestimate GPP in summer. Models overpredicted GPP under dry conditions and for temperatures below 0°C. Improvements in simulated soil moisture and ecosystem response to drought or humidity stress will improve simulated GPP under dry conditions. Adding a low‐temperature response to shut down GPP for temperatures below 0°C will reduce the positive bias in winter, spring, and fall and improve simulated phenology. The negative bias in summer and poor overall performance resulted from mismatches between simulated and observed light use efficiency (LUE). Improving simulated GPP requires better leaf‐to‐canopy scaling and better values of model parameters that control the maximum potential GPP, such asεmax (LUE), Vcmax (unstressed Rubisco catalytic capacity) or Jmax (the maximum electron transport rate).
Key Points
Gross primary productivity (GPP) from 26 models tested at 39 flux tower sites
Simulated light use efficiency controls model performance
Models overpredict GPP under dry conditions
Data from a network of eddy covariance stations in Europe and North America (FLUXNET) were analyzed to examine the diurnal patterns of surface energy and carbon fluxes during the summer period across ...a range of ecosystems and climates. Diurnal trends were quantified by assessing the time of day surface fluxes and meteorological variable reached peak values, using the “diurnal centroid” method; the diurnal centroid enabled us to discern whether the peak activity of the variable of interest is weighted more toward the morning or afternoon. In this paper, diurnal centroid estimates were used to diagnose which atmospheric and physiological processes controlled carbon dioxide, water vapor, and sensible heat fluxes across different ecosystems and climates. Sensitivity tests suggested that the diurnal centroids for latent (LE) and sensible (H) heat flux depend on atmospheric resistance, static stability in the free atmosphere, stomatal response to vapor pressure deficit, and advection. With respect to diurnal trends of surface energy fluxes at FLUXNET sites, maximum LE occurred later in the day relative to H at most tall forests with continental climates. The lag between LE and H was reduced or reversed at sites that were influenced by advection or by afternoon stomatal closure. The time of peak carbon uptake of temperate forests occurred earlier relative to the temporal peak of photosynthetically active radiation, as compared to boreal forests. The timing of this peak occurred earlier during periods with low soil water content, as it did during the summer in Mediterranean climates. In this case, the diurnal centroid for the CO2 flux was influenced by the response of respiration and photosynthesis to increasing afternoon temperature and by afternoon stomatal closure.
Energy balance closure at FLUXNET sites Wilson, Kell; Goldstein, Allen; Falge, Eva ...
Agricultural and forest meteorology,
12/2002, Volume:
113, Issue:
1
Journal Article, Web Resource
Peer reviewed
Open access
A comprehensive evaluation of energy balance closure is performed across 22 sites and 50 site-years in FLUXNET, a network of eddy covariance sites measuring long-term carbon and energy fluxes in ...contrasting ecosystems and climates. Energy balance closure was evaluated by statistical regression of turbulent energy fluxes (sensible and latent heat (LE)) against available energy (net radiation, less the energy stored) and by solving for the energy balance ratio, the ratio of turbulent energy fluxes to available energy. These methods indicate a general lack of closure at most sites, with a mean imbalance in the order of 20%. The imbalance was prevalent in all measured vegetation types and in climates ranging from Mediterranean to temperate and arctic. There were no clear differences between sites using open and closed path infrared gas analyzers. At a majority of sites closure improved with turbulent intensity (friction velocity), but lack of total closure was still prevalent under most conditions. The imbalance was greatest during nocturnal periods. The results suggest that estimates of the scalar turbulent fluxes of sensible and LE are underestimated and/or that available energy is overestimated. The implications on interpreting long-term CO
2 fluxes at FLUXNET sites depends on whether the imbalance results primarily from general errors associated with the eddy covariance technique or from errors in calculating the available energy terms. Although it was not entirely possible to critically evaluate all the possible sources of the imbalance, circumstantial evidence suggested a link between the imbalance and CO
2 fluxes. For a given value of photosynthetically active radiation, the magnitude of CO
2 uptake was less when the energy imbalance was greater. Similarly, respiration (estimated by nocturnal CO
2 release to the atmosphere) was significantly less when the energy imbalance was greater.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
The warm season (mid‐June through late August) partitioning between sensible (H) and latent (LE) heat flux, or the Bowen ratio (β = H/LE), was investigated at 27 sites over 66 site years within the ...international network of eddy covariance sites (FLUXNET). Variability in β across ecosystems and climates was analyzed by quantifying general climatic and surface characteristics that control flux partitioning. The climatic control on β was quantified using the climatological resistance (Ri), which is proportional to the ratio of vapor pressure deficit (difference between saturation vapor pressure and atmospheric vapor pressure) to net radiation (large values of Ri decrease β). The control of flux partitioning by the vegetation and underlying surface was quantified by computing the surface resistance to water vapor transport (Rc, with large values tending to increase β). There was a considerable range in flux partitioning characteristics (Rc, Ri and β) among sites, but it was possible to define some general differences between vegetation types and climates. Deciduous forest sites and the agricultural site had the lowest values of Rc and β (0.25–0.50). Coniferous forests typically had a larger Rc and higher β (typically between 0.50 and 1.00 but also much larger). However, there was notable variability in Rc and Ri between coniferous site years, most notably differences between oceanic and continental climates and sites with a distinct dry summer season (Mediterranean climate). Sites with Mediterranean climates generally had the highest net radiation, Rc, Ri, and β. There was considerable variability in β between grassland site years, primarily the result of interannual differences in soil water content and Rc.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Global warming is an increasing concern worldwide. Assessing the contribution of CO2 to this phenomenon is an important issue. This project's goal is to improve understanding of CO2 and H2O transport ...in a mountainous terrain that confound current efforts to resolve CO2 budgets at regional and global scales.
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