The eddy covariance is a powerful technique to estimate the surface-atmosphere exchange of different scalars at the ecosystem scale. The EC method is central to the ecosystem component of the ...Integrated Carbon Observation System, a monitoring network for greenhouse gases across the European Continent. The data processing sequence applied to the collected raw data is complex, and multiple robust options for the different steps are often available. For Integrated Carbon Observation System and similar networks, the standardisation of methods is essential to avoid methodological biases and improve comparability of the results. We introduce here the steps of the processing chain applied to the eddy covariance data of Integrated Carbon Observation System stations for the estimation of final CO
, water and energy fluxes, including the calculation of their uncertainties. The selected methods are discussed against valid alternative options in terms of suitability and respective drawbacks and advantages. The main challenge is to warrant standardised processing for all stations in spite of the large differences in
. ecosystem traits and site conditions. The main achievement of the Integrated Carbon Observation System eddy covariance data processing is making CO
and energy flux results as comparable and reliable as possible, given the current micrometeorological understanding and the generally accepted state-of-the-art processing methods.
Carbon dioxide (CO
) uptake by plant photosynthesis, referred to as gross primary production (GPP) at the ecosystem level, is sensitive to environmental factors, including pollutant exposure, ...pollutant uptake, and changes in the scattering of solar shortwave irradiance (SW
) - the energy source for photosynthesis. The 2020 spring lockdown due to COVID-19 resulted in improved air quality and atmospheric transparency, providing a unique opportunity to assess the impact of air pollutants on terrestrial ecosystem functioning. However, detecting these effects can be challenging as GPP is influenced by other meteorological drivers and management practices. Based on data collected from 44 European ecosystem-scale CO
flux monitoring stations, we observed significant changes in spring GPP at 34 sites during 2020 compared to 2015-2019. Among these, 14 sites showed an increase in GPP associated with higher SW
, 10 sites had lower GPP linked to atmospheric and soil dryness, and seven sites were subjected to management practices. The remaining three sites exhibited varying dynamics, with one experiencing colder and rainier weather resulting in lower GPP, and two showing higher GPP associated with earlier spring melts. Analysis using the regional atmospheric chemical transport model (LOTOS-EUROS) indicated that the ozone (O
) concentration remained relatively unchanged at the research sites, making it unlikely that O
exposure was the dominant factor driving the primary production anomaly. In contrast, SW
increased by 9.4 % at 36 sites, suggesting enhanced GPP possibly due to reduced aerosol optical depth and cloudiness. Our findings indicate that air pollution and cloudiness may weaken the terrestrial carbon sink by up to 16 %. Accurate and continuous ground-based observations are crucial for detecting and attributing subtle changes in terrestrial ecosystem functioning in response to environmental and anthropogenic drivers.
Temperate forest ecosystems play a crucial role in governing global carbon and water cycles. However, unprecedented global warming presents fundamental alterations to the ecological functions (e.g., ...carbon uptake) and biophysical variables (e.g., leaf area index) of forests. The quantification of forest carbon uptake, gross primary productivity (GPP), as the largest carbon flux has a direct consequence on carbon budget estimations. Part of this assimilated carbon stored in leaf biomass is related to the leaf area index (LAI), which is closely linked to and is of critical significance in the water cycle. There already exist a number of models to simulate dynamics of LAI and GPP; however, the level of complexity, demanding data, and poorly known parameters often prohibit the model applicability over data-sparse and large domains. In addition, the complex mechanisms associated with coupling the terrestrial carbon and water cycles poses a major challenge for integrated assessments of interlinked processes (e.g., accounting for the temporal dynamics of LAI for improving water balance estimations and soil moisture availability for enhancing carbon balance estimations). In this study, we propose a parsimonious forest canopy model (PCM) to predict the daily dynamics of LAI and GPP with few required inputs, which would also be suitable for integration into state-of-the-art hydrologic models. The light use efficiency (LUE) concept, coupled with a phenology submodel, is central to PCM (v1.0). PCM estimates total assimilated carbon based on the efficiency of the conversion of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation into biomass. Equipped with the coupled phenology submodel, the total assimilated carbon partly converts to leaf biomass, from which prognostic and temperature-driven LAI is simulated. The model combines modules for the estimation of soil hydraulic parameters based on pedotransfer functions and vertically weighted soil moisture, considering the underground root distribution, when soil moisture data are available. We test the model on deciduous broad-leaved forest sites in Europe and North America, as selected from the FLUXNET network. We analyze the model's parameter sensitivity on the resulting GPP and LAI and identified, on average, 10 common sensitive parameters at each study site (e.g., LUE and SLA). The model's performance is evaluated in a validation period, using in situ measurements of GPP and LAI (when available) at eddy covariance flux towers. The model adequately captures the daily dynamics of observed GPP and LAI at each study site (Kling–Gupta efficiency, KGE, varies between 0.79 and 0.92). Finally, we investigate the cross-location transferability of model parameters and derive a compromise parameter set to be used across different sites. The model also showed robustness with the compromise single set of parameters, applicable to different sites, with an acceptable loss in model skill (on average ±8 %). Overall, in addition to the satisfactory performance of the PCM as a stand-alone canopy model, the parsimonious and modular structure of the developed PCM allows for a smooth incorporation of carbon modules to existing hydrologic models, thereby facilitating the seamless representation of coupled water and carbon cycle components, i.e., prognostic simulated vegetation leaf area index (LAI) would improve the representation of the water cycle components (i.e., evapotranspiration), while GPP predictions would benefit from the simulated soil water storage from a hydrologic model.
Afforestations can be considerable carbon (C) sources due to C losses from the soil after site preparation for tree planting and decreased primary production. In this study, the transition from ...grassland to afforestation was investigated using two eddy flux towers, which were operated in parallel for 3 years, one on a young afforestation and one on an adjacent grassland. Differences between the fluxes at the two sites were attributable to the management of the sites, without confounding influences of meteorological variability. Site preparation with deep ploughing of the planting rows destroyed 30% of the grassland vegetation at the afforestation site and reduced gross primary productivity by 41% in the first year. At the afforestation site 38 g m⁻² less C was sequestered compared with the nonafforested grassland during the first year. In the following years, the C sink at the afforestation site was higher than at the grassland indicating that soil C loss due to site preparation and land use change on the afforestation occurred only during the first year. Metrological conditions, especially summer drought, caused a high interannual variability of the C balance: both sites were small C sources in 2005 (67 g C m⁻² a⁻¹ at the grassland and 19 g C g⁻¹ a⁻¹ at the afforestation site) and small C sinks in 2004 and 2006 (-72.5 and -16 g C m⁻² a⁻¹ at the grassland and -34 and -61 g C g⁻¹ a⁻¹ at the afforestation). Sheep grazing and mowing affected the short-term dynamics of the C balance and sheep grazing accelerated the C turnover on the grassland site. The investigated afforestation site did not provide any short-term way of sequestering additional C even though soil C losses during the first 3 years were relatively small.
The Integrated Carbon Observation System Research Infrastructure aims to provide long-term, continuous observations of sources and sinks of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous ...oxide, and water vapour. At ICOS ecosystem stations, the principal technique for measurements of ecosystem-atmosphere exchange of GHGs is the eddy-covariance technique. The establishment and setup of an eddy-covariance tower have to be carefully reasoned to ensure high quality flux measurements being representative of the investigated ecosystem and comparable to measurements at other stations. To fulfill the requirements needed for flux determination with the eddy-covariance technique, variations in GHG concentrations have to be measured at high frequency, simultaneously with the wind velocity, in order to fully capture turbulent fluctuations. This requires the use of high-frequency gas analysers and ultrasonic anemometers. In addition, to analyse flux data with respect to environmental conditions but also to enable corrections in the post-processing procedures, it is necessary to measure additional abiotic variables in close vicinity to the flux measurements. Here we describe the standards the ICOS ecosystem station network has adopted for GHG flux measurements with respect to the setup of instrumentation on towers to maximize measurement precision and accuracy while allowing for flexibility in order to observe specific ecosystem features.
•We assessed the effects of an extreme dry winter on an evergreen cork oak woodland.•The dry year showed a decrease of 45% in annual NEE and 63% in tree growth.•A 30-day shift in budburst timing ...occurred under early spring temperatures anomaly.•Fruit setting was reduced by 54% during the dry year.•Leaf growth is a resilient ecophysiological trait under winter drought.
In seasonally dry climates, such as the Mediterranean, lack of rainfall in the usually wet winter may originate severe droughts which are a main cause of inter-annual variation in carbon sequestration. Leaf phenology variability may alter the seasonal pattern of photosynthetic uptake, which in turn is determined by leaf gas exchange limitations. The current study is based on the monitoring of an extremely dry winter in an evergreen cork oak woodland under the Mediterranean climate of central Portugal. Results are focused on net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE), phenology and tree growth measurements during two contrasting years: 2011, a wet year with a typical summer drought pattern and 2012, with an extremely unusual dry winter (only 10mm of total rainfall) that exacerbated the following summer drought effects. Main aims of this study were to assess the effects of an extreme dry winter in (1) annual and seasonal net ecosystem CO2 exchange, and in (2) cork oak phenology. The dry year 2012 was marked by a 45% lower carbon sequestration (−214 vs. −388gCm−2year−1) and a 63% lower annual tree diameter growth but only a 9% lower leaf area index compared to the wet year 2011. A significant reduction of 15% in yearly carbon sequestration was associated with leaf phenological events of canopy renewal in the early spring. In contrast to male flower production, fruit setting was severely depressed by water stress with a 54% decrease during the dry year. Our results suggest that leaf growth and leaf area maintenance are resilient ecophysiological processes under winter drought and are a priority carbon sink for photoassimilates in contrast to tree diameter growth. Thus, carbon sequestration reductions under low water availabilities in cork oak woodland should be ascribed to stomatal regulation or photosynthetic limitations and to a lesser extent to leaf area reductions.
Information about forest background reflectance is needed for accurate biophysical parameter retrieval from forest canopies (overstory) with remote sensing. Separating under- and overstory signals ...would enable more accurate modeling of forest carbon and energy fluxes. We retrieved values of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) of the forest understory with the multi-angular Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF)/albedo data (gridded 500 m daily Collection 6 product), using a method originally developed for boreal forests. The forest floor background reflectance estimates from the MODIS data were compared with in situ understory reflectance measurements carried out at an extensive set of forest ecosystem experimental sites across Europe. The reflectance estimates from MODIS data were, hence, tested across diverse forest conditions and phenological phases during the growing season to examine their applicability for ecosystems other than boreal forests. Here we report that the method can deliver good retrievals, especially over different forest types with open canopies (low foliage cover). The performance of the method was found to be limited over forests with closed canopies (high foliage cover), where the signal from understory becomes too attenuated. The spatial heterogeneity of individual field sites and the limitations and documented quality of the MODIS BRDF product are shown to be important for the correct assessment and validation of the retrievals obtained with remote sensing.
Research infrastructures play a key role in launching a new generation of integrated long-term, geographically distributed observation programmes designed to monitor climate change, better understand ...its impacts on global ecosystems, and evaluate possible mitigation and adaptation strategies. The pan-European Integrated Carbon Observation System combines carbon and greenhouse gas (GHG; CO
, CH
, N
O, H
O) observations within the atmosphere, terrestrial ecosystems and oceans. High-precision measurements are obtained using standardised methodologies, are centrally processed and openly available in a traceable and verifiable fashion in combination with detailed metadata. The Integrated Carbon Observation System ecosystem station network aims to sample climate and land-cover variability across Europe. In addition to GHG flux measurements, a large set of complementary data (including management practices, vegetation and soil characteristics) is collected to support the interpretation, spatial upscaling and modelling of observed ecosystem carbon and GHG dynamics. The applied sampling design was developed and formulated in protocols by the scientific community, representing a trade-off between an ideal dataset and practical feasibility. The use of open-access, high-quality and multi-level data products by different user communities is crucial for the Integrated Carbon Observation System in order to achieve its scientific potential and societal value.
Potential losses by advection were estimated at Hainich Forest, Thuringia, Germany, where the tower is located at a gentle slope. Three approaches were used: (1) comparing nighttime eddy covariance ...fluxes to an independent value of total ecosystem respiration by bottom-up modeling of the underlying processes, (2) direct measurements of a horizontal CO₂ gradient and horizontal wind speed at 2 m height in order to calculate horizontal advection, and (3) direct measurements of a vertical CO₂ gradient and a three-dimensional wind profile in order to calculate vertical advection. In the first approach, nighttime eddy covariance measurements were compared to independent values of total ecosystem respiration by means of bottom-up modeling of the underlying biological processes. Turbulent fluxes and storage term were normalized to the fluxes calculated by the bottom-up model. Below a $u_* $ threshold of 0.6 m/s the normalized turbulent fluxes decreased with decreasing $u_* $, but the flux to the storage increased only up to values less than 20% of the modeled flux at low turbulence. Horizontal advection was measured by a horizontal CO₂ gradient over a distance of 130 m combined with horizontal wind speed measurements. Horizontal advection occurred at most of the evenings independently of friction velocity above the canopy. Nevertheless, horizontal advection was higher when $u_* $ was low. The peaks of horizontal advection correlated with changes in temperature. A full mass balance including turbulent fluxes, storage, and horizontal and vertical advection resulted in an increase of spikes and scatter but seemed to generally improve the results from the flux measurements. The comparison of flux data with independent bottom-up modeling results as well as the direct measurements resulted in strong indications that katabatic flows along the hill slope during evening and night reduces the measured apparent ecosystem respiration rate. In addition, anabatic flows may occur during the morning. We conclude that direct measurements of horizontal and vertical advection are highly necessary at sites located even on gentle hill slopes.
Horizontal and vertical advective fluxes of CO₂ measured during the CarboEurope-IP advection experiment (ADVEX) at the Wetzstein spruce forest site in Thuringia, Germany, were related to wind ...direction, stratification regime and friction velocity u *. Measurements of wind speed and direction carried out at one of the slopes of the ridge revealed the existence of reverse flow below the canopy on the downwind side. This uphill flow occurred concurrently with the advective fluxes measured at the top of the hill. Such result is in agreement with recent modeling works that support the existence of advection at low hills covered with a canopy. Another experimental evidence that suggest a link between advection at this site with the flow over the hill came from the analysis of the horizontal gradient of CO₂ inside the volume formed by the ADVEX towers. It was observed that CO₂ accumulated near the downwind side of the crest for cross-ridge flows, what is consistent with another modeling work of the transport of scalars across a low hill covered with a canopy.
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