Spatial-temporal variation of satellite-based gross primary production estimation in wheat-maize rotation area during 2000–2015

Abstract

North China Plain is the largest agricultural production center in China and wheat-maize rotation is a widespread cultivation practice in this area. As gross primary production (GPP) is a proxy of land productivity, research on its spatial-temporal dynamics helps understand the variation of grain production in wheat-maize rotation. Here, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data and ground observation data were combined to drive Vegetation Photosynthesis Model (VPM) in GPP estimation over wheat-maize rotation area during 2000–2015. Annual GPP has increased by 540.95 g C m⁻²year⁻¹ from 2000 to 2015, while total annual GPP has grown ∼150% than that of 2000. Moreover, annual GPP showed an increasing trend in the consecutively wheat-maize rotation area between 2000 and 2015. A strong linear relationship between GPP estimates and grain production demonstrated the potential of using VPM model to evaluate grain production in wheat-maize rotation area of Henan province, China.

Keywords:

• Gross primary production
• grain production
• wheat-maize rotation
• VPM model
• MODIS

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Earth Observation and Modeling Facility (EOMF) from the University of Oklahoma for providing technical support of VPM model. We thank Xiaocui Wu at the University of Oklahoma for suggestion of Harvest Index calculation. H.C. gratefully acknowledges the China Scholarship Council for the financial support for a 12-month research at the University of Oklahoma.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences under Grant [number Y852691s01]; Science & Technology Basic Resources Investigation Program of China under Grant [number 2017FY100901], the National Science Foundation of China under Grant [number 31971491; 41701449], the project of Ministry of Ecology and Environment under Grant [number 2019HJ2096001006].