Stable atmospheric methane in the 2000s: key-role of emissions from natural wetlands

Two atmospheric inversions (one fine-resolved and one process-discriminating) and a process-based model for land surface exchanges are brought together to analyse the variations of methane emissions from 1990 to 2009. A focus is put on the role of natural wetlands and on the years 2000-2006, a period of stable atmospheric concentrations. From 1990 to 2000, the top-down and bottom-up visions agree on the time-phasing of global total and wetland emission anomalies. The process-discriminating inversion indicates that wetlands dominate the time-variability of methane emissions (90% of the total variability). The contribution of tropical wetlands to the anomalies is found to be large, especially during the post-Pinatubo years (global negative anomalies with minima between -41 and -19 Tg yr(-1) in 1992) and during the alternate 1997-1998 El-Nino/1998-1999 La-Nina (maximal anomalies in tropical regions between +16 and +22 Tg yr(-1) for the inversions and anomalies due to tropical wetlands between +12 and +17 Tg yr(-1) for the process-based model). Between 2000 and 2006, during the stagnation of methane concentrations in the atmosphere, the top-down and bottom-up approaches agree on the fact that South America is the main region contributing to anomalies in natural wetland emissions, but they disagree on the sign and magnitude of the flux trend in the Amazon basin. A negative trend (-3.9 +/- 1.3 Tg yr(-1)) is inferred by the process-discriminating inversion whereas a positive trend (+1.3 +/- 0.3 Tg yr(-1)) is found by the process model. Although processed-based models have their own caveats and may not take into account all processes, the positive trend found by the B-U approach is considered more likely because it is a robust feature of the process-based model, consistent with analysed precipitations and the satellite-derived extent of inundated areas. On the contrary, the surface-data based inversions lack constraints for South America. This result suggests the need for a re-interpretation of the large increase found in anthropogenic methane inventories after 2000.

Copula-Based Modeling of TMI Brightness Temperature With Rainfall Type

Overland rain retrieval using spaceborne microwave radiometer offers a myriad of complications as land presents itself as a radiometrically warm and highly variable background. Hence, land rainfall algorithms of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager (TMI) have traditionally incorporated empirical relations of microwave brightness temperature (Tb) with rain rate, rather than relying on physically based radiative transfer modeling of rainfall (as implemented in the TMI ocean algorithm). In this paper, sensitivity analysis is conducted using the Spearman rank correlation coefficient as benchmark, to estimate the best combination of TMI low-frequency channels that are highly sensitive to the near surface rainfall rate from the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR). Results indicate that the TMI channel combinations not only contain information about rainfall wherein liquid water drops are the dominant hydrometeors but also aid in surface noise reduction over a predominantly vegetative land surface background. Furthermore, the variations of rainfall signature in these channel combinations are not understood properly due to their inherent uncertainties and highly nonlinear relationship with rainfall. Copula theory is a powerful tool to characterize the dependence between complex hydrological variables as well as aid in uncertainty modeling by ensemble generation. Hence, this paper proposes a regional model using Archimedean copulas, to study the dependence of TMI channel combinations with respect to precipitation, over the land regions of Mahanadi basin, India, using version 7 orbital data from the passive and active sensors on board TRMM, namely, TMI and PR. Studies conducted for different rainfall regimes over the study area show the suitability of Clayton and Gumbel copulas for modeling convective and stratiform rainfall types for the majority of the intraseasonal months. Furthermore, large ensembles of TMI Tb (from the most sensitive TMI channel combination) were generated conditional on various quantiles (25th, 50th, 75th, and 95th) of the convective and the stratiform rainfall. Comparatively greater ambiguity was observed to model extreme values of the convective rain type. Finally, the efficiency of the proposed model was tested by comparing the results with traditionally employed linear and quadratic models. Results reveal the superior performance of the proposed copula-based technique.

Development of a global inundation map at high spatial resolution from topographic downscaling of coarse-scale remote sensing data

Large-scale estimates of the area of terrestrial surface waters have greatly improved over time, in particular through the development of multi-satellite methodologies, but the generally coarse spatial resolution (tens of kms) of global observations is still inadequate for many ecological applications. The goal of this study is to introduce a new, globally applicable downscaling method and to demonstrate its applicability to derive fine resolution results from coarse global inundation estimates. The downscaling procedure predicts the location of surface water cover with an inundation probability map that was generated by bagged derision trees using globally available topographic and hydrographic information from the SRTM-derived HydroSHEDS database and trained on the wetland extent of the GLC2000 global land cover map. We applied the downscaling technique to the Global Inundation Extent from Multi-Satellites (GIEMS) dataset to produce a new high-resolution inundation map at a pixel size of 15 arc-seconds, termed GIEMS-D15. GIEMS-D15 represents three states of land surface inundation extents: mean annual minimum (total area, 6.5 x 10(6) km(2)), mean annual maximum (12.1 x 10(6) km(2)), and long-term maximum (173 x 10(6) km(2)); the latter depicts the largest surface water area of any global map to date. While the accuracy of GIEMS-D15 reflects distribution errors introduced by the downscaling process as well as errors from the original satellite estimates, overall accuracy is good yet spatially variable. A comparison against regional wetland cover maps generated by independent observations shows that the results adequately represent large floodplains and wetlands. GIEMS-D15 offers a higher resolution delineation of inundated areas than previously available for the assessment of global freshwater resources and the study of large floodplain and wetland ecosystems. The technique of applying inundation probabilities also allows for coupling with coarse-scale hydro-climatological model simulations. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc All rights reserved.

Disaggregation of LST over India: comparative analysis of different vegetation indices

The non-availability of high-spatial-resolution thermal data from satellites on a consistent basis led to the development of different models for sharpening coarse-spatial-resolution thermal data. Thermal sharpening models that are based on the relationship between land-surface temperature (LST) and a vegetation index (VI) such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) or fraction vegetation cover (FVC) have gained much attention due to their simplicity, physical basis, and operational capability. However, there are hardly any studies in the literature examining comprehensively various VIs apart from NDVI and FVC, which may be better suited for thermal sharpening over agricultural and natural landscapes. The aim of this study is to compare the relative performance of five different VIs, namely NDVI, FVC, the normalized difference water index (NDWI), soil adjusted vegetation index (SAVI), and modified soil adjusted vegetation index (MSAVI), for thermal sharpening using the DisTrad thermal sharpening model over agricultural and natural landscapes in India. Multi-temporal LST data from Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors obtained over two different agro-climatic grids in India were disaggregated from 960 m to 120 m spatial resolution. The sharpened LST was compared with the reference LST estimated from the Landsat data at 120 m spatial resolution. In addition to this, MODIS LST was disaggregated from 960 m to 480 m and compared with ground measurements at five sites in India. It was found that NDVI and FVC performed better only under wet conditions, whereas under drier conditions, the performance of NDWI was superior to other indices and produced accurate results. SAVI and MSAVI always produced poorer results compared with NDVI/FVC and NDWI for wet and dry cases, respectively.

Development of a classical force field for the oxidized Si surface: application to hydrophilic wafer bonding.

We have developed a classical two- and three-body interaction potential to simulate the hydroxylated, natively oxidized Si surface in contact with water solutions, based on the combination and extension of the Stillinger-Weber potential and of a potential originally developed to simulate SiO(2) polymorphs. The potential parameters are chosen to reproduce the structure, charge distribution, tensile surface stress, and interactions with single water molecules of a natively oxidized Si surface model previously obtained by means of accurate density functional theory simulations. We have applied the potential to the case of hydrophilic silicon wafer bonding at room temperature, revealing maximum room temperature work of adhesion values for natively oxidized and amorphous silica surfaces of 97 and 90 mJm(2), respectively, at a water adsorption coverage of approximately 1 ML. The difference arises from the stronger interaction of the natively oxidized surface with liquid water, resulting in a higher heat of immersion (203 vs 166 mJm(2)), and may be explained in terms of the more pronounced water structuring close to the surface in alternating layers of larger and smaller densities with respect to the liquid bulk. The computed force-displacement bonding curves may be a useful input for cohesive zone models where both the topographic details of the surfaces and the dependence of the attractive force on the initial surface separation and wetting can be taken into account.

高寒草甸生态系统陆地生物圈模式研究及应用

改进了适合于高寒草甸生态系统的陆地生态圈模式，分析了模式中温度变化与水分运动分层的物理原因，说明了气候状况对地表面能量交换的影响，给出了净辐射和蒸散量新的计算方法，提出了有很差分计算中具有二阶精度的Euler隐式格式，介绍了中国科学院海北高寒草甸生态站的气候概况和野外观测情况。最后利用本模式对高寒草甸生态站地区的土壤-植被-大气间水热交换过程进行了数值模拟，模拟值与实测值吻合较好。

Wind-driven desertification: process modeling, remote monitoring, and forecasting

Arid and semiarid landscapes comprise nearly a third of the Earth's total land surface. These areas are coming under increasing land use pressures. Despite their low productivity these lands are not barren. Rather, they consist of fragile ecosystems vulnerable to anthropogenic disturbance.

The purpose of this thesis is threefold: (I) to develop and test a process model of wind-driven desertification, (II) to evaluate next-generation process-relevant remote monitoring strategies for use in arid and semiarid regions, and (III) to identify elements for effective management of the world's drylands.

In developing the process model of wind-driven desertification in arid and semiarid lands, field, remote sensing, and modeling observations from a degraded Mojave Desert shrubland are used. This model focuses on aeolian removal and transport of dust, sand, and litter as the primary mechanisms of degradation: killing plants by burial and abrasion, interrupting natural processes of nutrient accumulation, and allowing the loss of soil resources by abiotic transport. This model is tested in field sampling experiments at two sites and is extended by Fourier Transform and geostatistical analysis of high-resolution imagery from one site.

Next, the use of hyperspectral remote sensing data is evaluated as a substantive input to dryland remote monitoring strategies. In particular, the efficacy of spectral mixture analysis (SMA) in discriminating vegetation and soil types and detennining vegetation cover is investigated. The results indicate that hyperspectral data may be less useful than often thought in determining vegetation parameters. Its usefulness in determining soil parameters, however, may be leveraged by developing simple multispectral classification tools that can be used to monitor desertification.

Finally, the elements required for effective monitoring and management of arid and semiarid lands are discussed. Several large-scale multi-site field experiments are proposed to clarify the role of wind as a landscape and degradation process in dry lands. The role of remote sensing in monitoring the world's drylands is discussed in terms of optimal remote sensing platform characteristics and surface phenomena which may be monitored in order to identify areas at risk of desertification. A desertification indicator is proposed that unifies consideration of environmental and human variables.

Quantifying seascape structure: extending terrestrial spatial pattern metrics to the marine realm

Spatial pattern metrics have routinely been applied to characterize and quantify structural features of terrestrial landscapes and have demonstrated great utility in landscape ecology and conservation planning. The important role of spatial structure in ecology and management is now commonly recognized, and recent advances in marine remote sensing technology have facilitated the application of spatial pattern metrics to the marine environment. However, it is not yet clear whether concepts, metrics, and statistical techniques developed for terrestrial ecosystems are relevant for marine species and seascapes. To address this gap in our knowledge, we reviewed, synthesized, and evaluated the utility and application of spatial pattern metrics in the marine science literature over the past 30 yr (1980 to 2010). In total, 23 studies characterized seascape structure, of which 17 quantified spatial patterns using a 2-dimensional patch-mosaic model and 5 used a continuously varying 3-dimensional surface model. Most seascape studies followed terrestrial-based studies in their search for ecological patterns and applied or modified existing metrics. Only 1 truly unique metric was found (hydrodynamic aperture applied to Pacific atolls). While there are still relatively few studies using spatial pattern metrics in the marine environment, they have suffered from similar misuse as reported for terrestrial studies, such as the lack of a priori considerations or the problem of collinearity between metrics. Spatial pattern metrics offer great potential for ecological research and environmental management in marine systems, and future studies should focus on (1) the dynamic boundary between the land and sea; (2) quantifying 3-dimensional spatial patterns; and (3) assessing and monitoring seascape change.

Kinetic Model Study on Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Cellulose Using Artificial Neural Networks

Enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose was highly complex because of the unclear enzymatic mechanism and many factors that affect the heterogeneous system. Therefore, it is difficult to build a theoretical model to study cellulose hydrolysis by cellulase. Artificial neural network (ANN) was used to simulate and predict this enzymatic reaction and compared with the response surface model (RSM). The independent variables were cellulase amount X-1, substrate concentration X-2, and reaction time X-3, and the response variables were reducing sugar concentration Y-1 and transformation rate of the raw material Y-2. The experimental results showed that ANN was much more suitable for studying the kinetics of the enzymatic hydrolysis than RSM. During the simulation process, relative errors produced by the ANN model were apparently smaller than that by RSM except one and the central experimental points. During the prediction process, values produced by the ANN model were much closer to the experimental values than that produced by RSM. These showed that ANN is a persuasive tool that can be used for studying the kinetics of cellulose hydrolysis catalyzed by cellulase.

分布式水文模型的误差分析

分布式水文模型以其具有明确物理意义的参数结构和对空间分异性的全面反映,能够准确详尽地描述和模拟流域内真实的降水径流过程而被广泛需求和关注。在模拟土地利用、土地覆盖、水土流失等各种变化过程的水文响应,面源污染、陆面过程、气候变化影响评价等诸多领域都有广泛的应用。模型的预报精度和误差至关重要,决定了模型的应用和推广。在分析分布式水文模型建立和验证过程的基础上,提出了模型的4类误差来源:被排除在外的因素引起的误差,实测历史记录资料的随机或系统误差,参数误差和模型结构误差,讨论了各类误差的分析与计算方法,为模型的发展和成长提供了依据。

DETERMINATION OF SURFACE-ROUGHNESS OF INP (001) WAFERS BY X-RAY-SCATTERING

The surface roughness of polished InP (001) wafers were examined by x-ray reflectivity and crystal truncation rod (CTR) measurements. The root-mean-square roughness and the lateral correlation scale were obtained by both methods. The scattering intensities in the scans transverse to the specular reflection rod were found to contain two components. A simple surface model of surface faceting is proposed to explain the experimental data. The sensitivities of the two methods to the surface structure and the role of the resolution functions in the CTR measurements are discussed.

基于陆面能量平衡方程的遥感模型的研究与应用-以海河流域为例

流域尺度上的水循环包括降水、径流、地下水、蒸腾蒸发等过程。其中ET是流域水循环研究和水资源管理的重要因素，也是陆面生态过程的关键参数。流域和区域水资源管理的目的就是要保证流域内的水资源供需平衡，在水资源短缺地区就是要通过监测、评价取｝有效管理来减少实际耗水量，实现水资源的高效利用。海河流域处于中国干旱和湿润气候的过渡地带，是东部沿海降水最少的地区。山于气候、地形等因素的影响，降水量的年际变化很大，且有较明显的地带性差异。海河流域人均水资源占有量305m3，不足全国的1／6，为一世界水平的1／24。流域以其仅占全国1．5％的有限水资源，承担着全国10％的人口及京、津等几十座城市的供水任务。经济社会的发展已超出水资源的承载能力，处于供需严重失衡状态。状态。选择海河流域进行实际蒸腾蒸发量研究，对实现海河流域水资源的合理规划和管理，把握区域水资源供需平衡规律，有重要的指导意义本研究对区域遥感监测蒸发蒸腾的模型机理进行了深入探讨，详细叙述了有关方法，进而根据地而站点的精细观测并结合以往的地面观测资料，检验了蒸发蒸腾量的遥感监测结果，对遥感估算蒸腾蒸发的模型进行了优化。模型计算结果的精度一般在80％以上，可以满足流域水资源管理业务应用的需要。本文还对其遥感ET监测在空间和时间尺度上的应用做了一定的探讨。利用基于陆面能量平衡方程的遥感模型估算蒸腾蒸发，在百公里尺度和全流域两个尺度上进行了初步分析。百公里尺度上选择LANDSATTM资料，并以北京市作为研究区域，利用遥感数据获取的信息，进行了瞬时蒸腾蒸发量的计算和日蒸腾蒸发量的计算，并分析了蒸腾蒸发量的空间分布。在海河流域尺度，利用2003年的NOAAAVHRR遥感数据，以整个海河流域为研究对象，计算了8个省、市，39个地区的蒸腾蒸发量，得出了2003年海河流域分区域蒸腾蒸发量和不同土地利用类型的蒸腾蒸发量，对蒸腾蒸发量的年内分配和水量平衡进行了分析。计算结果可以作为北京市和海河流域的水资源管理的科学依据。最后，对遥感监测ET方法的改进及在水管理等方面的广泛应用作了展望。

川西亚高山森林生态系统辐射传输研究

辐射传输研究是贯穿森林生态系统的纽带，太阳辐射为植物的生长发育提供光合能量、适宜的环境温度以及发育信息。一方面，气候变化使到达地面辐射能的质和量发生变化，影响到植被的生长发育，改变森林的结构，而森林结构的变化又会影响林冠内辐射能的分配和质量，这些变化会进一步影响到林下土壤温度，改变森林根系活性以及土壤营养转化的效率；连锁反应的结果有可能会使森林生态系统的生产力发生变化，改变碳素和氮素源库的调节方向，从而反馈影响地球气候系统。另一方面，人类作为生态系统的成员，必然需要森林生态系统为其提供更多的原材料和更好的生态服务功能，如何实现这些目标，就需要人类适度调整干预方式和频度，达到预期的目的。本文在建立适合于川西亚高山森林的叶面积测量技术、光照辐射模型和土壤温度变化模型的基础上，对川西亚高山地带森林生态系统的辐射传输特征进行了分析，并从森林结构的角度探讨了林分内的辐射分布以及对土壤温度的影响。主要成果如下： 1. 提出了一种照相法测量叶面积的方法。通过对摆放在平面上的叶片照相，利用投影变化，把非正射图像转化为正射图像，然后经过计算机图像处理得到每一片叶片的面积、周长、长度、宽度等信息。这种方法可使用户以任意方向和距离拍摄处于平面上的叶片，能同时处理大量的叶片，适于野外离体或活体叶片测量。叶片面积分辨率可调，分辨率可以与常用的激光叶面积仪相近甚至更高，而且叶片图像可以存档查询。 2. 提出一种模拟林内光照变化的模型。利用林冠半球照片，记录视点以上半球内的林冠构件空间分布，作为林冠子模型；天空辐射子模型采用国际照明委员会(CIE)的标准晴天和阴天以及插值模型。该模型能够模拟林下某一位点处的实时光斑变化。 3. 提出一种土壤温度变化模型。把土壤视为具有容量和阻力性质的结构，利用电阻和电容器件构建土壤能量分布模型。外界太阳辐射能经过植被以及其它一些能量分配器后进入土壤，其中有一部分转化为土壤势能，即土壤温度。土壤温度的变化类似于电池的充放电过程。在已知模型参数的情况下，可以从太阳辐射计算土壤温度的变化。在模型参数未知的情况下，通过输入和输出值推算模型的参数，而模型参数中的时间常数与土壤组成和含水量有关，这样就可以知道土壤水分的变化情况。 4. 从王朗亚高山森林典型样地林分结构的测量获得林地三维结构图、树冠形态、叶面积密度等参数，这些参数输入到Brunner (1998)开发的tRAYci 模型中计算出一段时间内林分任意位置处的光照值。与林下辐射计测量值以及半球照片计算结果的比较，该模型基本上能够满足对林分光环境了解的要求。 5. 从川西亚高山森林生产力的角度，探讨了森林生产力研究的方法以及川西地区的研究历史和成果，发现了其中的一些规律和问题，特别是在叶面积测量上，还没有使用标准的叶面积指数定义。综合来看，川西地区针叶林叶面积指数(单位土地面积上植物冠层总叶面积的一半) 应在4-5 之间。降雨丰富的华西雨屏带是川西地区森林生产力最高的地区，而向西北森林生产力逐渐降低。川西地区云冷杉林森林生产力平均约为600 gDM m-2 a-1，但是根据辐射能计算的潜在生产力则达到1800 gDM m-2 a-1。实际与潜在森林生产力的巨大差异说明其它因子对生产力的影响。 6. 王朗亚高山3 个典型森林林分中，白桦林样地(BF) 林下草本以糙野青茅、牛至、紫菀等喜阳性物种为主，林下透光度较高；冷杉林样地(FF) 林下透光度最低，以喜阴性物种水金凤、蟹甲草、囊瓣芹等为主；而云杉林样地(SF)林分林龄最大，林下透光度介于冷杉林和白桦林之间，草本层仍然以喜阴性物种东方草莓、紫花碎米芥、酢浆草等为主。冷杉林和云杉林的灌木层也很丰富，卫矛属、五加属、茶藨子属、忍冬属植物很丰富，而在白桦林则以栒摘要子属、榛子属、鹅耳枥属等植物为主。藓类植物在云杉林中最丰富，并且形成毯状层，其它两个林分则很稀少。3 个样地林分结构与林下光环境有很强的相关性，从光环境特征可以在一定程度上推测林分的结构。各样地单纯从乔木层材积推算的NPP 排列顺序为BF>FF>SF，与林下辐射透射率和林分年龄的顺序相同，暗示辐射对群落演替过程的驱动作用。 7. 用半球照相法测得BF、FF 和SF 3 个样地的有效叶面积指数以SF 样地最高，BF 最低。如果考虑针叶树叶片在小枝上的丛聚分布，利用北方针叶林的数值进行校正，则SF 样地LAI 显著增加(达到89%)，其它样地的LAI 基本不变甚至有所下降。校正后的数值与文献中地面测量的结果较相近，说明在使用半球照相法测量川西亚高山针叶林LAI 时必须加以校正。 8. 在3 个样地中，白桦、岷江冷杉和方枝柏种群为丛聚分布，紫果云杉在FF和SF 样地中基本上为随机分布。3 个物种出现丛聚分布的最短距离约为2m，在最短距离以内则为随机分布。最短距离可能与树冠大小有关，种子传播特征以及对光照的需求状况可能是造成这种分布格局类型的原因。 Radiative transfer plays a key role in forest ecosystems. Solar radiation providesenergy for photosynthesis, appropriate ambient temperature and development informationfor plants. However, quality and quantity of radiation reaching land surface are affected byweather and subsequently influence the growth and development of plants, which in turnchanges the budget of radiation in forest. Soil temperature changes with the variation ofradiation under forest canopy and influences the activity of roots and rate of nutrientturnover. Thus, any changes of radiation will induce chain reactions in the entireecosystem and display in the value of net primary productivity which will possibly shiftthe relationship between carbon source and sink at local or regional scale and feed back tothe global climate system. On the other hand, as a component of ecosystems, humanbeings of course need to demand more materials and better service from ecosystems. Forthese purpose, man must adapt their pattern and frequency of interference to ecosystems.This paper aims to research on the canopy structure, the radiation distribution and theirinfluence on soil temperature from the process of radiative transfer in subalpine forestecosystem of western Sichuan. The main results are: 1 Present a new photogrammetric method for leaf area. The main idea is to convertnon-vertically taken images of planar leaves to orthoimages through projectivetransformation. The resultant images are used to get leaf morphological parametersthrough image processing. This method enables users to take photos at almost anyorientation and distance if only the leaves are placed on same plane, and to processlarge quantity of leaves in a short time, which is suitable for field measurement. Theresolution of leaf area is adjustable to fit for special requirement. 2 A model using hemispherical photos combining with solar tracks and radiation courseis provided to simulate light variation in forest. The hemispherical photos of canopyrecord the real spatial distribution of each element of plants viewed from a point. Skyradiance is simulated with CIE standard clear sky or cloudy sky model. This modelcan be used to simulate real time light variation under canopy. 3 Present a soil temperature model. Soil could be regarded as a body of resistor andcapacitor. Some of the budget of solar radiation in soil body is transformed into soilpotential energy, the soil temperature. Variation of soil temperature is driven by solarradiation, vegetation, soil properties, etc. This model has two parameters, one of whichis time constant and is related to soil water content. The inversed model can be used tosimulate the variation of soil water. 4 By using model tRAYci developed by Brunner (1998), the 3-D distribution of light inthree subalpine forest stands of Wanglang Nature Reserve has been simulated andvalidated with value of radiometers in these stands. This model can basically satisfythe need for understanding light regimes of these stands. 5 Present some principles and questions of NPP (net primary of productivity) researchesin western Sichuan. The standard leaf area index (LAI) defined by Chen and Black(1997) has not been used in this region. Total leaf area and projected leaf area indexare still used in NPP researches which may differ around 1-fold in magnitude. Thestandard LAI which is a half of total leaf area above unit land area should be between4 and 5 for typical subalpine coniferous forest of western Sichuan concluded fromliteratures. The maximum forest NPP occurs in West China rain belt and decreasesnorthwestwards. Average NPP of spruce-fir forest in western Sichuan is about600gDM m-2 a-1, which is below the potential NPP of 1800gDM m-2 a-1 based onmeasured radiation in this region. The significant difference between potential and realNPP suggests that other factors influence the growth of stands. 6 In the three subalpine forest stands of Wanglang Nature Reserve, herbage layer ofAbstractbirch stand (BF) with age of 40 is dominated by heliophytes of Deyeuxia scabrescens,Origanum vulgare, Aster tongoloa etc.. However, both of the other two stands aredominated by shade tolerent species, such as Impatiens noli-tangere, Impatiensdicentra, Cacalia deltophylla and Pternopetalum tanakae etc. in fir stand (FF) withage of 180 and Fragaria orientalis, Cardamine tangutorum and Oxalis corniculata etc.in spruce stand (SF) with age of 330. Shrub species in the latter two stands arerelatively rich, typical dominant genera being Euonymus, Acanthopanax, Ribes andLonicera. Birch stand has relatively sparse shrubs dominated by genera of Cotoneaster,Corylus and Carpinus. Mosses are significant only in spruce stand. The canopystructure controls the light regime of stand, which influence the composition of herblayers beneath the canopy. This light regime-community structure relationship can beused to infer the herb community from canopy structure. The NPP derived from timbervolume of arbor layer of the three stands decreases from BF to SF, which is in thesame order of transmitted total radiation under canopy and age of these stands,suggesting the driving effect of radiation in the succession of community. 7 The highest effective LAI of the three stands obtained by hemispherical photos is inplot SF and lowest in plot BF. After rectification of the clumping effect of leaves onshoot, the real LAI in plot SF increases significantly (89%) and approximate to theaverage LAI of coniferous forest in western Sichuan. Therefore, the LAI obtainedfrom hemispherical photos needs rectification for clumping effect. 8 Spatial distribution pattern for Betula platyphylla, Abies faxoniana and Sabinasaltuaria is clumpy, but Picea purpurea almost random in plot FF and SF. The shortestdistance for clumpy distribution for Betula platyphylla and Sabina saltuaria is 1.5m,and 2m for Abies faxoniana. And random pattern for these trees is exhibited within thisrange which almost coincides with the diameter of crown. Seed dispersalcharacteristics and light requirement may be the reason for different spatial pattern.

Monitoring and simulation of water, heat,and CO2 fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems based on the APEIS-FLUX system

The Integrated Environmental Monitoring (IEM) project, part of the Asia-Pacific Environmental Innovation Strategy (APEIS) project, developed an integrated environmental monitoring system that can be used to detect, monitor, and assess environmental disasters, degradation, and their impacts in the Asia-Pacific region. The system primarily employs data from the moderate resolution imaging spectrometer (MODIS) sensor on the Earth Observation System- (EOS-) Terra/Aqua satellite,as well as those from ground observations at five sites in different ecological systems in China. From the preliminary data analysis on both annual and daily variations of water, heat and CO2 fluxes, we can confirm that this system basically has been working well. The results show that both latent flux and CO2 flux are much greater in the crop field than those in the grassland and the saline desert, whereas the sensible heat flux shows the opposite trend. Different data products from MODIS have very different correspondence, e.g. MODIS-derived land surface temperature has a close correlation with measured ones, but LAI and NPP are quite different from ground measurements, which suggests that the algorithms used to process MODIS data need to be revised by using the local dataset. We are now using the APEIS-FLUX data to develop an integrated model, which can simulate the regional water,heat, and carbon fluxes. Finally, we are expected to use this model to develop more precise high-order MODIS products in Asia-Pacific region.

Modeling gross primary production of alpine ecosystems in the Tibetan Plateau using MODIS images and climate data

The eddy covariance technique provides measurements of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) Of CO2 between the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems, which is widely used to estimate ecosystem respiration and gross primary production (GPP) at a number Of CO2 eddy flux tower sites. In this paper, canopy-level maximum light use efficiency, a key parameter in the satellite-based Vegetation Photosynthesis Model (VPM), was estimated by using the observed CO2 flux data and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) data from eddy flux tower sites in an alpine swamp ecosystem, an alpine shrub ecosystem and an alpine meadow ecosystem in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China. The VPM model uses two improved vegetation indices (Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), Land Surface Water Index (LSWI)) derived from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectral radiometer (MODIS) data and climate data at the flux tower sites, and estimated the seasonal dynamics of GPP of the three alpine grassland ecosystems in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The seasonal dynamics of GPP predicted by the VPM model agreed well with estimated GPP from eddy flux towers. These results demonstrated the potential of the satellite-driven VPM model for scaling-up GPP of alpine grassland ecosystems, a key component for the study of the carbon cycle at regional and global scales. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.