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Remote Sensing of Photosynthesis with Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Photochemical Reflectance Index

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A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Remote Sensing in Agriculture and Vegetation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 July 2023) | Viewed by 15545

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Peiqi Yang

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Guest Editor

School of Geography, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China
Interests: quantitative remote sensing; radiative transfer modelling; plant-climate interaction via photosynthetic and hydrologic processes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Xinjie Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, China
Interests: sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence; quantitative remote sensing of vegetation; tower-based canopy spectral observation and analysis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Monitoring photosynthetic activity has been one of the key objectives of the next generation of satellite missions. Sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) and photochemical reflectance index (PRI) are two promising avenues for remotely sensing photosynthesis and for advancing our understanding of plant–climate interactions. In the last few decades, progress has been made in measurement techniques, retrieval algorithms, and modeling biochemical and radiative transfer processes related to SIF and PRI. We have successfully linked SIF with gross primary productivity (GPP), and PRI with non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) and, thus, light use efficiency (LUE). However, there are a number of remaining challenges in understanding SIF, PRI, and their relationship with photosynthesis. The purpose of this Special Issue is to report research on the progress of remote sensing of SIF and PRI or their applications to plant physiology monitoring.

We invite research that advances our understanding of the SIF and PRI signals at various scales, and their link with photosynthesis to improve understanding of photosynthesis as well as carbon and water cycles. Articles covering but not limited to the following topics are invited for this Special Issue:

Technological developments in the field of remote sensing of SIF and PRI, such as retrieval algorithms and measurement systems for various platforms.
Radiative transfer modeling of the reflectance and SIF signals of leaf and canopy.
Theoretical and experimental developments on mechanistic upscaling of the relationship between non-photochemical quenching, LUE, and fluorescence.
Research applying SIF and/or PRI for a better understanding of photosynthesis and vegetation status.

Prof. Dr. Peiqi Yang
Dr. Xinjie Liu
Guest Editors

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Keywords

Sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence
Photochemical reflectance index
Photosynthesis
Non-photochemical quenching
Plant physiology
Light use efficiency
Modelling

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 4451 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Temporal Variation in Tower-Based Solar-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Its Environmental Response in a Chinese Cork Oak Plantation

by Meijun Hu, Xiangfen Cheng, Jinsong Zhang, Hui Huang, Yu Zhou, Xin Wang, Qingmei Pan and Chongfan Guan

Remote Sens. 2023, 15(14), 3568; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15143568 - 16 Jul 2023

Viewed by 1102

Abstract

With the development of spectrum observation technology, solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF)—an effective substitute for photosynthesis—has been widely used to monitor crop stress, vegetation phenology and ecosystem productivity. The relationship between fluorescence and photosynthesis is complicated because they are sensitive to environmental changes. Understanding the response of SIF to environmental factors is of great significance for clarifying the variation dynamic and relationship between SIF and photosynthesis under different conditions. In this study, the canopy SIF and the environmental factors of a Quercus variabilis BI. plantation were observed simultaneously, and the response of SIF to environmental factors at a daily scale and at a half-hour scale was analyzed. The results showed that SIF had obvious seasonal and diurnal dynamics and was mainly driven by photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). The influence of PAR, air temperature (Ta), vapor pressure deficit (VPD), soil moisture (SM) and wind speed (Ws) on SIF varied with the lapse of the growing season. After eliminating the covariant effect of PAR on the Ta and VPD during the whole growing season, the relationship between VPD and SIF was found to be negative, and the effect of Ta on SIF disappeared. This study enriched the ground observation dataset and provided support for understanding the variations in the relationship between SIF and photosynthesis under different conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Photosynthesis with Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Photochemical Reflectance Index)

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Figure 1

15 pages, 3070 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Exploring the Sensitivity of Solar-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence at Different Wavelengths in Response to Drought

by Shan Xu, Zhigang Liu, Shuai Han, Zhuang Chen, Xue He, Huarong Zhao and Sanxue Ren

Remote Sens. 2023, 15(4), 1077; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15041077 - 16 Feb 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1651

Abstract

Due to the mechanistic coupling between solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) and photosynthesis, SIF has an advantage over greenness-based vegetation indices in detecting drought. Since photosystem I (PSI) contributes very little to red SIF, red SIF is assumed to be more responsive to environmental stress than far-red SIF. However, in addition to affecting photosynthesis, drought also has an impact on vegetation chlorophyll concentration and thus affects the reabsorption process of red SIF. When these responses are entangled, the sensitivity of SIF in the red and far-red regions in response to drought is not yet clear. In this study, we conducted a water stress experiment on maize in the field and measured the upward and downward leaf SIF spectra by a spectrometer assembled with a leaf clip. Simultaneously, leaf-level active fluorescence was measured with a pulse-amplified modulation (PAM) fluorometer. We found that SIF, after normalization by photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and dark-adapted minimal fluorescence (

F_{o}

), is a better estimation of SIF yield. By comparing the wavelength-dependent link between SIF yield and nonphotochemical quenching (NPQ) across the range of 660 to 800 nm, the results show that red SIF and far-red SIF have different sensitivities in response to drought. SIF yield in the far-red region has a strong and stable correlation with NPQ. Drought not only reduces red SIF due to photosynthetic regulation, but it also increases red SIF by reducing chlorophyll content (weakening the reabsorption effect). The co-existence of these two contradictory effects makes the red SIF of leaf level unable to reliably indicate NPQ. In addition, the red:far-red ratio of downward SIF and the ratio between the downward SIF and upward SIF at the red peak can be good indicators of chlorophyll content. These findings can help to interpret SIF variations in remote sensing techniques and fully exploit SIF information in red and far-red regions when monitoring plant water stress. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Photosynthesis with Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Photochemical Reflectance Index)

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Graphical abstract

23 pages, 2880 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Different Responses of Solar-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence at the Red and Far-Red Bands and Gross Primary Productivity to Air Temperature for Winter Wheat

by Jidai Chen, Xinjie Liu, Guijun Yang, Shaoyu Han, Yan Ma and Liangyun Liu

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(13), 3076; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14133076 - 26 Jun 2022

Viewed by 1641

Abstract

Solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) is closely related to the light-reaction process and has been recognized as a good indicator for tracking gross primary productivity (GPP). Nevertheless, it has not been widely examined how SIF and GPP respond to temperature. Here, we explored the [...] Read more.

c S I F

), GPP, and meteorological data. To separately explore the structural and physiological mechanisms underlying the SIF–GPP relationship, we studied the temperature responses of the estimated light use efficiency (

L U E_{p}

), canopy-level chlorophyll fluorescence yield (

c S I F_{y i e l d}

) and photosystem-level chlorophyll fluorescence yield (

Φ_{F}

) estimated using canopy-scale remote sensing measurements. We found that GPP, red canopy SIF (

c S I F_{688}

) and far-red canopy SIF (

c S I F_{760}

) all exhibited a decreasing trend during overwintering periods. However, GPP and

c S I F_{688}

showed relatively more obvious changes in response to air temperature (

T_{a}

) than

c S I F_{760}

did. In addition, the

L U E_{p}

responded sensitively to

T_{a}

(the correlation coefficient, r = 0.83, p-value < 0.01). The

c S I F_{y i e l d_688}

and

Φ_{F_688}

(

Φ_{F}

at 688 nm) also exhibited significantly positive correlations with

T_{a}

(r > 0.7, p-value < 0.05), while

c S I F_{y i e l d_760}

and

Φ_{F_760}

(

Φ_{F}

at 760 nm) were weakly correlated with

T_{a}

(r < 0.3, p-value > 0.05) during overwintering periods. The results also show that

L U E_{p}

was more sensitive to

T_{a}

than

Φ_{F}

, which caused changes in the

L U E_{p} / Φ_{F}

ratio in response to

T_{a}

. By considering the influence of

T_{a}

, the GPP estimation based on the total SIF emitted at the photosystem level (

t S I F

) was improved (with R² increased by more than 0.12 for

t S I F_{760}

and more than 0.05 for

t S I F_{688}

). Therefore, our results indicate that the

L U E_{p} / Φ_{F}

ratio is affected by temperature conditions and highlights that the SIF–GPP model should consider the influence of temperature. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Photosynthesis with Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Photochemical Reflectance Index)

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Graphical abstract

19 pages, 3735 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Investigating the Performance of Red and Far-Red SIF for Monitoring GPP of Alpine Meadow Ecosystems

by Weina Duan, Xinjie Liu, Jidai Chen, Shanshan Du, Liangyun Liu and Xia Jing

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(12), 2740; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14122740 - 07 Jun 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1932

Abstract

Alpine meadow ecosystems are extremely vulnerable to climate change and serve an essential function in terrestrial carbon sinks. Accurately estimating their gross primary productivity (GPP) is essential for understanding the global carbon cycle. Solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF), as a companion product directly related to plant photosynthesis process, has become an attractive pathway for estimating GPP accurately. To date, the quantitative SIF-GPP relationship in terrestrial ecosystems is not yet clear. Especially, red SIF and far-red SIF present differences in their ability to track GPP under different environmental conditions. In this study, we investigated the performance of SIF at both red and far-red band in monitoring the GPP of an alpine meadow ecosystem based on continuous tower-based observations in 2019 and 2020. The results show that the canopy red SIF (

{SIF}_{Red}

) and far-red SIF (

{SIF}_{Far-red}

) were both strongly correlated with GPP.

{SIF}_{Red}

was comparable to

{SIF}_{Far-red}

for monitoring GPP based on comparisons of both half-hourly averaged and daily averaged datasets. Moreover, the relationship between

{SIF}_{Red}

and GPP was linearly correlated, while the relationship between

{SIF}_{Far-red}

and GPP tended to be nonlinear. At a diurnal scale, dramatic changes in photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), air temperature (Ta), and vapor pressure deficit (VPD) all had effects on the slope of the linear fitted line with zero intercept for

{SIF}_{Red}

-GPP and

{SIF}_{Far-red}

-GPP, and the effect on the slope of the linear fitted line with zero intercept for

{SIF}_{Far-red}

-GPP was obviously stronger than that for

{SIF}_{Red}

-GPP. PAR was the dominant factor among the three environmental factors in determining the diurnal variation of the slope of SIF-GPP. At a seasonal scale, the

{SIF}_{Far-red}

/GPP was susceptible to PAR, Ta, and VPD, while the

{SIF}_{Red}

/GPP remained relatively stable at different levels of Ta and VPD, and it was only weakly affected by PAR, suggesting that

{SIF}_{Red}

was more consistent than

{SIF}_{Far-red}

with GPP in response to seasonal variations in environmental factors. These results indicate that

{SIF}_{Red}

has more potential than

{SIF}_{Far-red}

for monitoring the GPP of alpine meadow ecosystems and can also assist researchers in gaining a more comprehensive understanding of the diversity of SIF-GPP relationships in different ecosystems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Photosynthesis with Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Photochemical Reflectance Index)

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Graphical abstract

17 pages, 4004 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Remote Sensing of Instantaneous Drought Stress at Canopy Level Using Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Canopy Reflectance

by Simon De Cannière, Harry Vereecken, Pierre Defourny and François Jonard

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(11), 2642; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14112642 - 31 May 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2478

Abstract

Climate change amplifies the intensity and occurrence of dry periods leading to drought stress in vegetation. For monitoring vegetation stresses, sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) observations are a potential game-changer, as the SIF emission is mechanistically coupled to photosynthetic activity. Yet, the benefit of SIF for drought stress monitoring is not yet understood. This paper analyses the impact of drought stress on canopy-scale SIF emission and surface reflectance over a lettuce and mustard stand with continuous field spectrometer measurements. Here, the SIF measurements are linked to the plant’s photosynthetic efficiency, whereas the surface reflectance can be used to monitor the canopy structure. The mustard canopy showed a reduction in the biochemical component of its SIF emission (the fluorescence emission efficiency at 760 nm—ϵ₇₆₀) as a reaction to drought stress, whereas its structural component (the Fluorescence Correction Vegetation Index—FCVI) barely showed a reaction. The lettuce canopy showed both an increase in the variability of its surface reflectance at a sub-daily scale and a decrease in ϵ₇₆₀ during a drought stress event. These reactions occurred simultaneously, suggesting that sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence and reflectance-based indices sensitive to the canopy structure provide complementary information. The intensity of these reactions depend on both the soil water availability and the atmospheric water demand. This paper highlights the potential for SIF from the upcoming FLuorescence EXplorer (FLEX) satellite to provide a unique insight on the plant’s water status. At the same time, data on the canopy reflectance with a sub-daily temporal resolution are a promising additional stress indicator for certain species. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Photosynthesis with Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Photochemical Reflectance Index)

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23 pages, 5635 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Reconstructed Global Daily Seamless SIF Product at 0.05 Degree Resolution Based on TROPOMI, MODIS and ERA5 Data

by Jiaochan Hu, Jia Jia, Yan Ma, Liangyun Liu and Haoyang Yu

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(6), 1504; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14061504 - 20 Mar 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3350

Abstract

Satellite-derived solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) has been proven to be a valuable tool for monitoring vegetation’s photosynthetic activity at regional or global scales. However, the coarse spatiotemporal resolution or discrete space coverage of most satellite SIF datasets hinders their full potential for studying carbon cycle and ecological processes at finer scales. Although the recent TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) partially addresses this issue, the SIF still has drawbacks in spatial insufficiency and spatiotemporal discontinuities when gridded at high spatiotemporal resolutions (e.g., 0.05°, 1-day or 2-day) due to its nonuniform sampling sizes, swath gaps, and clouds contaminations. Here, we generated a new global SIF product with Seamless spatiotemporal coverage at Daily and 0.05° resolutions (SDSIF) during 2018–2020, using the random forest (RF) approach together with TROPOMI SIF, MODIS reflectance and meteorological datasets. We investigated how the model accuracy was affected by selection of explanatory variables and model constraints. Eventually, models were trained and applied for specific continents and months given the similar response of SIF to environmental variables within closer space and time. This strategy achieved better accuracy (R² = 0.928, RMSE = 0.0597 mW/m²/nm/sr) than one universal model (R² = 0.913, RMSE = 0.0653 mW/m²/nm/sr) for testing samples. The SDSIF product can well preserve the temporal and spatial characteristics in original TROPOMI SIF with high temporal correlations (mean R² around 0.750) and low spatial residuals (less than ±0.081 mW/m²/nm/sr) between them two at most regions (80% of global pixels). Compared with the original SIF at five flux sites, SDSIF filled the temporal gaps and was better consistent with tower-based SIF at the daily scale (the mean R² increased from 0.467 to 0.744. Consequently, it provided more reliable 4-day SIF averages than the original ones from sparse daily observations (e.g., the R² at Daman site was raised from 0.614 to 0.837), which resulted in a better correlation with 4-day tower-based GPP. Additionally, the global coverage ratio and local spatial details had also been improved by the reconstructed seamless SIF. Our product has advantages in spatiotemporal continuities and details over the original TROPOMI SIF, which will benefit the application of satellite SIF for understanding carbon cycle and ecological processes at finer spatial and temporal scales. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Photosynthesis with Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Photochemical Reflectance Index)

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13 pages, 5340 KiB

Open AccessTechnical Note

Using High-Frequency PAR Measurements to Assess the Quality of the SIF Derived from Continuous Field Observations

by Shuai Han, Zhigang Liu, Zhuang Chen, Hao Jiang, Shan Xu, Huarong Zhao and Sanxue Ren

Remote Sens. 2022, 14(9), 2083; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14092083 - 26 Apr 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1770

Abstract

Fluctuations in illumination are one of the major sources for SIF retrieval errors during temporal continuous field measurements. In this study, we propose a method for evaluating the quality of SIF based on simultaneous measurements of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), which are acquired using a quantum sensor at a sampling frequency higher than that obtained using spectral measurements. The proposed method is based on the coefficient of variation (known as relative standard deviation) of the high-frequency PAR during a SIF measurement to determine the quality of the SIF value. To evaluate the method, spectral and PAR data of a healthy maize canopy were collected under various illumination conditions, including clear, cloudy, and rapidly fluctuating illumination. The SIF values were retrieved by 3FLD, SFM, and SVD. The results showed that SFM and 3FLD were sensitive to illumination stability. The determination coefficients (

R^{2}

) between PAR and SIF extracted by SFM and 3FLD were higher than 0.8 on clear and cloudy days and only approximately 0.48 on the day with rapidly fluctuating illumination. By removing the unqualified data using the proposed method, the

R^{2}

values of SFM and 3FLD on the day of rapidly fluctuating illumination significantly increased to 0.72. SVD was insensitive to illumination stability. The

R^{2}

values of SVD on days with clear, cloudy, and rapidly fluctuating illumination were 0.73, 0.76, and 0.61, respectively. By removing the unqualified data, the

R^{2}

values of SVD were increased to 0.66 on the day with rapidly fluctuating illumination. The results indicated that the quality assessment method based on high-frequency PAR data can eliminate the incorrect SIFs due to unstable illumination. The method can be used to extract more accurate and reliable SIF datasets from long-term field observations for the study of the relationship between SIF and vegetation photosynthesis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Photosynthesis with Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Photochemical Reflectance Index)

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