Carbon Dioxide Exchange Between the Atmosphere and an Alpine Shrubland Meadow During the Growing Season on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

In the present study, we used the eddy covariance method to measure CO2 exchange between the atmosphere and an alpine shrubland meadow ecosystem (37°36'N, 101°18'E; 3 250 m a.s.l.) on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China, during the growing season in 2003, from 20 April to 30 September. This meadow is dominated by formations of Potentilla fruticosa L. The soil is Mol-Cryic Cambisols. During the study period, the meadow was not grazed. The maximum rates of CO2 uptake and release derived from the diurnal course of CO2 flux were -9.38 and 5.02 μmol•m-2•s-1, respectively. The largest daily CO2 uptake was 1.7 g C•m-2•d-1 on 14 July, which is less than half that of an alpine Kobresia meadow ecosystem at similar latitudes. Daily CO2 uptake during the measurement period indicated that the alpine shrubland meadow ecosystem may behave as a sink of atmospheric CO2 during the growing season. The daytime CO2 uptake was correlated exponentially or linearly with the daily photo synthetic photon flux density each month. The daytime average water use efficiency of the ecosystem was 6.47 mg CO2/g H2O. The efficiency of the ecosystem increased with a decrease in vapor pressure deficit.

Characterizing evapotranspiration over a meadow ecosystem on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

To characterize evapotranspiration (ET) over grasslands on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, we examined ET and its relevant environmental variables in a Kobresia meadow from 2002 to 2004 using the eddy covariance method. The annual precipitation changed greatly, with 554, 706, and 666 mm a(-1) for the three consecutive calendar years. The annual ET varied correspondingly to the annual precipitation with 341, 407, and 426 mm a(-1). The annual ET was, however, constant at about 60% of the annual precipitation. About 85% annual ET occurred during the growing season from May to September, and the averaged ET for this period was 1.90, 2.23, and 2.22 mm/d, respectively for the three consecutive years. The averaged ET was, however, very low (< 0.40 mm/d) during the nongrowing season from October to April. The annual canopy conductance (gc) and the Priestley-Taylor coefficient (a) showed the lowest values in the year with the lowest precipitation. This study first demonstrates that the alpine meadow ecosystem is characterized by a low ratio of annual ET to precipitation and that the interannual variation of ET is determined by annual precipitation.

Diurnal, seasonal and annual variation in net ecosystem CO2 exchange of an alpine shrubland on Qinghai-Tibetan plateau

Thus far, grassland ecosystem research has mainly been focused on low-lying grassland areas, whereas research on high-altitude grassland areas, especially on the carbon budget of remote areas like the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau is insufficient. To address this issue, flux of CO2 were measured over an alpine shrubland ecosystem (37 degrees 36'N, 101 degrees 18'E; 325 above sea level [a. s. l.]) on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China, for 2 years (2003 and 2004) with the eddy covariance method. The vegetation is dominated by formation Potentilla fruticosa L. The soil is Mol-Cryic Cambisols. To interpret the biotic and abiotic factors that modulate CO2 flux over the course of a year we decomposed net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) into its constituent components, and ecosystem respiration (R-eco). Results showed that seasonal trends of annual total biomass and NEE followed closely the change in leaf area index. Integrated NEE were -58.5 and -75.5 g C m(-2), respectively, for the 2003 and 2004 years. Carbon uptake was mainly attributed from June, July, August, and September of the growing season. In July, NEE reached seasonal peaks of similar magnitude (4-5 g C m(-2) day(-1)) each of the 2 years. Also, the integrated night-time NEE reached comparable peak values (1.5-2 g C m(-2) day(-1)) in the 2 years of study. Despite the large difference in time between carbon uptake and release (carbon uptake time < release time), the alpine shrubland was carbon sink. This is probably because the ecosystem respiration at our site was confined significantly by low temperature and small biomass and large day/night temperature difference and usually soil moisture was not limiting factor for carbon uptake. In general, R-eco was an exponential function of soil temperature, but with season-dependent values of Q(10). The temperature-dependent respiration model failed immediately after rain events, when large pulses of R-eco were observed. Thus, for this alpine shrubland in Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, the timing of rain events had more impact than the total amount of precipitation on ecosystem R-eco and NEE.

Seasonal patterns of gross primary production and ecosystem respiration in an alpine meadow ecosystem on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

We measured the net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) in an alpine meadow ecosystem (latitude 37degrees29'-45'N, longitude 101degrees12'-23'E, 3250 m above sea level) on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau throughout 2002 by the eddy covariance method to examine the carbon dynamics and budget on this unique plateau. Diurnal changes in gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (R-e) showed that an afternoon increase of NEE was highly associated with an increase of R-e. Seasonal changes in GPP corresponded well to changes in the leaf area index and daily photosynthetic photon flux density. The ratio of GPP/R-e was high and reached about 2.0 during the peak growing season, which indicates that mainly autotrophic respiration controlled the carbon dynamics of the ecosystem. Seasonal changes in mean GPP and R-e showed compensatory behavior as reported for temperate and Mediterranean ecosystems, but those of GPP(max) and R-emax were poorly synchronized. The alpine ecosystem exhibited lower GPP (575 g C m(-2) y(-1)) than, but net ecosystem production (78.5 g C m(-2) y(-1)) similar to, that of subalpine forest ecosystems. The results suggest that the alpine meadow behaved as a CO2 sink during the 1-year measurement period but apparently sequestered a rather small amount of C in comparison with similar alpine ecosystems.

Carbon dioxide exchange between the atmosphere and an alpine meadow ecosystem on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China

We used the eddy covariance method to measure the M exchange between the atmosphere and an alpine meadow ecosystem (37degrees29-45'N, 101degrees12-23'E, 3250m a.s.l.) on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China in the 2001 and 2002 growing seasons. The maximum rates Of CO2 uptake and release derived from the diurnal course Of CO2 flux (FCO2) were -10.8 and 4.4 mumol m(-2) s(-1), respectively, indicating a relatively high net carbon sequestration potential as compared to subalpine coniferous forest at similar elevation and latitude. The largest daily CO2 uptake was 3.9 g cm(-2) per day on 7 July 2002, which is less than half of those reported for lowland grassland and forest at similar latitudes. The daily CO2 uptake during the measurement period indicated that the alpine ecosystem might behave as a sink of atmospheric M during the growing season if the carbon lost due to grazing is not significant. The daytime CO2 uptake was linearly correlated with the daily photosynthetic photon flux density each month. The nighttime averaged F-CO2 showed a positive exponential correlation with the soil temperature, but apparently negative correlation with the soil water content. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A numerical model for predicting the jump of lift force on an oscillating cylinder

The fluid force coefficients on a transversely oscillating cylinder are calculated by applying two- dimensional large eddy simulation method. Considering the ‘‘jump’’ phenomenon of the amplitude of lift coefficient is harmful to the security of the submarine slender structures, the characteristics of this ‘‘jump’’ are dissertated concretely. By comparing with experiment results, we establish a numerical model for predicting the jump of lift force on an oscillating cylinder, providing consultation for revising the hydrodynamic parameters and checking the fatigue life scale design of submarine slender cylindrical structures.

Validating MODIS-derived land surface evapotranspiration with in situ measurements at two AmeriFlux sites in a semiarid region

Reducing uncertainties in the estimation of land surface evapotranspiration (ET) from remote-sensing data is essential to better understand earth-atmosphere interactions. This paper demonstrates the applicability of temperature-vegetation index triangle (T-s-VI) method in estimating regional ET and evaporative fraction (EF, defined as the ratio of latent heat flux to surface available energy) from MODIS/Terra and MODIS/Aqua products in a semiarid region. We have compared the satellite-based estimates of ET and EF with eddy covariance measurements made over 4 years at two semiarid grassland sites: Audubon Ranch (AR) and Kendall Grassland (KG). The lack of closure in the eddy covariance measured surface energy components is shown to be more serious at MODIS/Aqua overpass time than that at MODIS/Terra overpass time for both AR and KG sites. The T-s-VI-derived EF could reproduce in situ EF reasonably well with BIAS and root-mean-square difference (RMSD) of less than 0.07 and 0.13, respectively. Surface net radiation has been shown to be systematically overestimated by as large as about 60 W/m(2). Satisfactory validation results of the T-s-VI-derived sensible and latent heat fluxes have been obtained with RMSD within 54 W/m(2). The simplicity and yet easy use of the T-s-VI triangle method show a great potential in estimating regional ET with highly acceptable accuracy that is of critical significance in better understanding water and energy budgets on the Earth. Nevertheless, more validation work should be carried out over various climatic regions and under other different land use/land cover conditions in the future.

Effects of Yb concentration on the fluorescence spectra of Yb-doped YAlO3 single crystals

0.5 at.% Yb:YAlO3(YAP), 5 at.% Yb:YAP and 15 at.% Yb:YAP were grown using the Czochralski method. Their absorption and fluorescence spectra were measured at room temperature and their emission line shape was calculated using the method of reciprocity. It was observed that the fluorescence spectra changed appreciably with the increasing of Yb concentration. For 0.5 at.% Yb:YAP, the line shape of fluorescence is very similar with the calculated emission line shape; with the increasing of Yb doping concentration, the line shape of fluorescence is very different from the calculated emission line shape. These phenomena are caused by the strong self-absorption at 979 and 999 nm for Yb:YAP. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

内蒙古羊草草原碳通量观测及其驱动机制分析

植被与大气间CO2通量的长期观测能够使人们加深对陆地生态系统在全球碳循环中科学地位的理解。在生态系统水平上，涡度相关技术是评价植被/大气间净生态系统CO2交换量的主要手段。本研究以内蒙古羊草草原通量站为试验平台，以涡度相关技术为主要技术手段，以内蒙古草原生态系统定位研究站羊草草原围封样地2003～2005年开路涡度相关系统观测的CO2通量数据为基础，深入探讨了内蒙古羊草草原生态系统CO2通量不同时间尺度上的变化特征及其驱动机制。 在建立生态系统尺度CO2通量观测基本方法论的前提下，集中探讨了不同时间尺度内蒙古羊草草原生态系统净生态系统碳交换、呼吸作用以及碳吸收的季节变异特征及其控制机制，初步建立了内蒙古羊草草原净生态系统CO2交换量估算的基本方法，可为生态系统过程模拟与模型预测提供科学依据和技术支撑。主要结果包括以下几个方面： 1. 功率谱和协谱分析表明，开路涡度相关系统对高频湍流信号的响应能力可以满足内蒙古草原生态系统实际观测要求。与闭路涡度相关系统和常规气象系统对比分析表明，开路涡度相关系统在CO2通量长期观测中仪器性能稳定，可以满足CO2通量长期观测的客观需要。坐标旋转校正是复杂地形条件下CO2通量测定理想的倾斜校正途径。能量平衡闭合的测试仅可以作为数据质量评价的参考标准之一，而不能作为CO2通量数据质量评价的绝对标准并用于数据校正。 2. 按照CO2通量吸收的高峰特征划分，正常降水年，内蒙古羊草草原CO2通量同时具有一个吸收高峰和两个吸收高峰的特征。而极端干旱年蒙古羊草草原的CO2通量具有两个吸收高峰的特征。在严重干旱胁迫条件下，2005年内蒙古羊草草原生态系统净生态系统交换出现显著下降的趋势。净生态系统交换下降主要是降雨量减少的影响。 3. 通过分析不同时间尺度上CO2通量和环境因子的关系，发现小时尺度上，内蒙古羊草草原生态系统的净生态系统交换主要由光合有效辐射控制，而饱和水汽压差和土壤含水量是影响生态系统光合作用的另外两个关键因素。在更大的时间尺度上降雨量和物候相的变化是调节生态系统碳通量大小的主要因素。最大的生物量和LAI出现的时间和最大的NEE出现的时间相吻合，但是降雨量的变化可以改变这种关系。 4. 在内蒙古羊草草原区>3mm的降雨被认为是对生态系统有效的。土壤含水量(0~20cm)在一次有效降雨事件发生后，约1~2天后才会发生响应， 2003年和2004年，NEE在 >3mm的降雨事件发生后，NEE开始增加，4~6天后达到高峰。随着降雨的结束，NEE在达到高峰后开始降低，10天后达到初始值的60~70%。 5. 在生态系统水平上，温度和土壤水分条件的季节动态是控制生态系统呼吸季节变化模式的重要环境要素，在干旱胁迫的条件下，水分条件也可能成为生态系统呼吸的主导因素，生态系统呼吸在干旱条件降低。

开垦和放牧对内蒙古半干旱草原蒸发散的影响

为了研究开垦和放牧对内蒙古半干旱草原生态系统蒸发散的影响，我们以内蒙古锡林郭勒盟多伦县的草地和农田以及锡林浩特围封草地和退化草地为实验样地，利用涡度协方差技术对四个样地2006-2007年的蒸发散和微气象因子进行连续测定，探讨开垦和放牧对内蒙古半干旱草原生态系统蒸发散的影响及其驱动机制。同时利用稳定同位素技术区分多伦半干旱草原生态系统蒸发散的组分，初步探讨生态系统蒸发散各组分的变化特征及其驱动因子。 在观测的两年里，四个生态系统的年蒸发散接近或超过了年降雨量。在较湿润年份（2006年）的生长季（5-9月），开垦使得半干旱草原的蒸发散降低了15%，而在较干旱年份（2007年）降低了7%。放牧在2006年生长季期间使草原生态系统蒸发散降低了13%，而在2007年生长季里，围封草地和退化草地的蒸发散没有显著性差异。开垦和放牧造成的土壤含水量显著下降是生态系统蒸发散降低的最主要的原因。此外，农田开垦改变了植被的种类和物候特征，缩短了植物的生长期（农作物的生长期主要是6-8月，而草地的生长季一般为5-9月），是造成农田整个生长季的蒸发散比草地低的另一个原因。干旱年份降雨量少、土壤含水量低，限制了植被的生长，降低了冠层导度，从而导致了植物蒸腾的下降。另一方面，在干旱年份，开垦和放牧增加了草原生态系统蒸发散对土壤含水量变化的敏感性，表明未来降雨格局的变化不仅直接通过影响土壤含水量来改变蒸发散，而且会影响蒸发散和土壤含水量之间的相关性。 通过研究生态系统对不同强度和不同时间降雨的响应表明，> 3 mm的降雨会增加内蒙古半干旱草原生态系统的土壤含水量和蒸发散，对内蒙古半干旱草原生态系统关键过程有效。雨后1-2天蒸发散达到峰值，之后下降。多数大的降雨事件后，农田和退化草地蒸发散峰值比相对应的草地高，之后下降的也快，这与植被的生长状况、凋落物的量和地面的裸露程度有关。雨后土壤含水量和蒸发散的变化与降雨事件的大小呈正相关的关系，并且蒸发散的变化与土壤含水量的变化有显著的线性相关性，说明了土壤含水量是影响蒸发散变化的主要因子。土壤含水量初始值和干旱期的长短会影响内蒙古半干旱草原生态系统蒸发散对降雨的响应。土壤含水量初始值低会增强蒸发散对降雨的响应，而土壤含水量初始值高时，蒸发散对降雨的响应会下降。干旱期长会增强蒸发散对降雨的瞬时响应。围封草地由于有凋落物的缓冲和保水作用，未来降雨强度的增加会促进围封草原植被的生长;而退化草地地表裸露，对大的降雨事件缓冲作用小，地表径流和土壤蒸发强烈，不利于保水和植被的生长。因此，未来极端降雨事件频率的增加和干旱期的延长势必会对半干旱草原生态系统产生影响，尤其对退化草地产生不利影响。 为了进一步了解蒸发散组分的变化规律及其驱动因子，我们利用稳定同位素与微气象技术相结合的方法，区分半干旱草原生态系统蒸发散的组分。区分结果表明，在2006年和2007年整个生长季期间，植物蒸腾均为蒸发散的主要形式，在2006年和2007年生长季期间植物蒸腾占蒸发散的比例分别为88%和73%。影响植物蒸腾的因子主要是净辐射、大气相对湿度、土壤含水量和叶面积指数;影响蒸发的因子主要是大气相对湿度、土壤含水量和风速;而影响蒸发散的因子主要是净辐射、大气相对湿度、土壤含水量和风速，说明了这些水分流失过程受到不同环境因子的驱动。此外，我们根据一个简单的模型把同位素方法区分的蒸发散组分外推到整个生长季，结果表明，在2006年和2007年整个生长季蒸腾与蒸发散的比例高，并且蒸腾与降雨量的比例高，由此说明，半干旱草原生态系统植被能够有效地利用水分，雨水利用效率高。生态系统总初级生产力（GPP）与植物蒸腾（T）存在明显的正相关关系，从5-8月，生态系统水分利用效率（GPP/T）逐渐升高。 我们的研究结果表明：人类的活动如开垦和放牧通过改变植被类型、土壤持水能力和蒸发散对土壤含水量的响应，降低了草原生态系统的蒸发散，增加了生态系统蒸发散对降雨响应的敏感性，不利于土壤的保水和植被对水分的利用。半干旱草原生态系统蒸发散组分的稳定同位素技术区分，为进一步从新的角度探讨土地利用方式的改变对草原生态系统蒸发散影响的生理机制提供了可能。