Estimation of the global net primary productivity using NOAA images and meteorological data: changes between 1988 and 1993

Abstract

A model for net primary productivity (NPP) estimation was developed based on a relationship between NPP estimated by the Chikugo model and the intensity-sum of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) multiplied by the solar radiation during growth periods. There was a clear linear relationship between the estimated NPP and the intensity-sum (R ²=0.845), whose slope indicated the average light use efficiency (LUE) of global plants. The NPP estimation model (NDVI-based model), which included growth multipliers of optimum air temperature and soil water stress on vegetation growth with LUE, was developed. NDVI anomalies caused by scattering of volcanic ash from Mt Pinatubo were reduced by a correction based on intensity matching of channels 1 and 2 individually. NDVI retrieved a seasonal change pattern in 1991 and 1992 after the correction. Global NPP between 1988 and 1993 was estimated using the NDVI-based model, corrected NDVI, air temperature and soil water content data. There was a linear relationship between the estimated NPP and NPP observed in forests in China. The average global NPP during the 6 years was about 123 Pg dry weight per year, and the maximum and minimum NPP appeared in 1991 and 1988, respectively.

Acknowledgments

The PAL data were produced through funding from the Earth Observing System Path Finder Program of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth in cooperation with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The PAL data were provided by the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), Distributed Active Archive Center at Goddard Space Flight Center, which archives, manages and distributes this dataset. The air temperature and precipitation data at meteorological stations were provided by the Global Historical Climatology Network project of the NOAA. These data were produced by the National Climate Data Center, Arizona State University, and Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The solar radiation data at observatories were supplied by the World Radiation Data Center, which is maintained by the Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring. The global grid meteorological data were supplied by the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis Project by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction and the National Center for Atmospheric Research supported by NOAA. The authors are grateful to these organizations and their staff members for supplying these data for public use. The authors also appreciate the helpful suggestions of anonymous reviewers to improve our paper.

This study was supported by the research project Global Carbon Cycle and the Related Global Mapping Based on Satellite Imagery operated by the Science and Technology Agency of Japan.

Notes

^*Currently at Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, 1 Matsunosato, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305, Japan; e-mail: [email protected]

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yoshio Awaya*

*Currently at Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, 1 Matsunosato, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305, Japan; e-mail: [email protected]