Remote Sensing of Fluorescence, Photosynthesis and Vegetation Status

Dear Colleagues,

Photosynthesis is the basis of life on Earth. During photosynthesis, part of the radiation absorbed by chlorophyll is re-emitted in the form of fluorescence. Therefore, the measurement of chlorophyll fluorescence is considered to be a valuable tool to monitor photosynthetic activity. Remote sensing of chlorophyll fluorescence is a fast-growing field, which is important for quantifying vegetation’s health status, encompassing its functional activity from the canopy to ecosystem levels at global scale. In the last decade, the research on Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF) has increased rapidly. Novel instruments, measuring systems and platforms are developed to acquire reflectance spectra with ultrafine spectral resolution. At the same time, new and improved retrieval methods have been developed with the purpose of extracting the weak SIF signal from reflectance spectra with higher accuracy. All kinds of research experiments have been performed recently through different platforms (Unmanned aerial vehicle, airborne, spaceborne) to study the sensitivity of SIF signals on environmental factors (pollutants, herbicides, etc.) to better interpret the SIF and its relation to photosynthesis at multiple scales (leaf, canopy, ecosystem). For this purpose, advanced physiological and radiative transfer models are being developed, which helps in combining SIF data with other available biophysical information.

In the meantime, space satellite missions such as OCO-2, GOSAT, GOME-2, and others are already exploiting the SIF variability to understand the earth's vegetation, whereas the dedicated Fluorescence Explorer (FLEX)—Sentinel-3 tandem mission by European Space Agency is in its implementation phase.

The field of SIF-related is rapidly evolving and SIF has been generally recognized as the most direct remote sensing proxy for photosynthesis estimation. However, additional information is required for a better understanding of the complex vegetation physiology mechanisms, such as absorbed photosynthetic radiation by plants, non-photochemical energy dissipation, plant structure, the role of the atmosphere, among others.

Altogether, this Special Issue calls for research and review articles that contribute to: (1) the progress in the field of remote sensing of chlorophyll fluorescence, and (2) SIF-related applications for a better understanding of photosynthesis and vegetation status.

Dr. Anshu Rastogi
Dr. Jochem Verrelst
Guest Editors

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