Data-driven diagnostics of terrestrial carbon dynamics over North America

Jingfeng Xiao; Scott V. Ollinger; Steve Frolking; George C. Hurtt; David Y. Hollinger; Kenneth J. Davis; Yude Pan; Xiaoyang Zhang; Feng Deng; Jiquan Chen; Dennis D. Baldocchi; Bevery E. Law; M. Altaf Arain; Ankur R. Desai; Andrew D. Richardson; Ge Sun; Brian Amiro; Hank Margolis; Lianhong Gu; Russell L. Scott; Peter D. Blanken; Andrew E. Suyker

doi:10.1016/j.agrformet.2014.06.013

Data-driven diagnostics of terrestrial carbon dynamics over North America

Jingfeng Xiao, Scott V. Ollinger, Steve Frolking, George C. Hurtt, David Y. Hollinger, Kenneth J. Davis, Yude Pan, Xiaoyang Zhang, Feng Deng, Jiquan Chen, Dennis D. Baldocchi, Bevery E. Law, M. Altaf Arain, Ankur R. Desai, Andrew D. Richardson, Ge Sun, Brian Amiro, Hank Margolis, Lianhong Gu, Russell L. ScottPeter D. Blanken, Andrew E. Suyker

Ecosystem Processes

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

96 Scopus citations

Abstract

The exchange of carbon dioxide is a key measure of ecosystem metabolism and a critical intersection between the terrestrial biosphere and the Earth's climate. Despite the general agreement that the terrestrial ecosystems in North America provide a sizeable carbon sink, the size and distribution of the sink remain uncertain. We use a data-driven approach to upscale eddy covariance flux observations from towers to the continental scale by integrating flux observations, meteorology, stand age, aboveground biomass, and a proxy for canopy nitrogen concentrations from AmeriFlux and Fluxnet-Canada Research Network as well as a variety of satellite data streams from the MODIS sensors. We then use the resulting gridded flux estimates from March 2000 to December 2012 to assess the magnitude, distribution, and interannual variability of carbon fluxes for the U.S. and Canada. The mean annual gross primary productivity (GPP), ecosystem respiration (ER), and net ecosystem productivity (NEP) of the U.S. over the period 2001-2012 were 6.84, 5.31, and 1.10PgCyr^-1, respectively; the mean annual GPP, ER, and NEP of Canada over the same 12-year period were 3.91, 3.26, and 0.60PgCyr^-1, respectively. The mean nationwide annual NEP of natural ecosystems over the period 2001-2012 was 0.53PgCyr^-1 for the U.S. and 0.49PgCyr^-1 for the conterminous U.S. Our estimate of the carbon sink for the conterminous U.S. was almost identical with the estimate of the First State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR). The carbon fluxes exhibited relatively large interannual variability over the study period. The main sources of the interannual variability in carbon fluxes included drought and disturbance. The annual GPP and NEP were strongly related to annual evapotranspiration (ET) for both the U.S. and Canada, showing that the carbon and water cycles were closely coupled. Our gridded flux estimates provided an independent, alternative perspective on ecosystem carbon exchange over North America.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	142-157
Number of pages	16
Journal	Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
Volume	197
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2014.06.013
State	Published - Oct 15 2014

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation through the MacroSystems Biology Program (award number 1065777 ) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through the Terrestrial Ecology program (award numbers NNX10AO03G , NNX11AB88G , and NNX12AK56G ) and the Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) (award number NNX11AL32G ). This work is part of the North American Carbon Program (NACP) research. We thank all AmeriFlux and Fluxnet-Canada PIs and their research personnel for making the flux observations available. The Fluxnet-Canada Research Network was funded by the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences (CFCAS) , the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada , BIOCAP Canada , Natural Resources Canada and Environment Canada . The financial support to the eddy covariance data harmonization of the LaThuile database was provided by CarboEuropeIP , FAO-GTOS-TCO , iLEAPS , Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry , National Science Foundation , University of Tuscia , Université Laval and Environment Canada and US Department of Energy and the database development and technical support from Berkeley Water Center, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Microsoft Research eScience, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, University of California – Berkeley, University of Virginia. We thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on the manuscript.

Funders	Funder number
FAO-GTOS-TCO
Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
US Department of Energy
University of California – Berkeley
University of Tuscia
Université Laval and Environment Canada
National Science Foundation	1065777
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	NNX11AL32G, NNX10AO03G, NNX11AB88G, NNX12AK56G
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
University of Virginia
Environment Canada
Natural Resources Canada
Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences
Luonnontieteiden ja Tekniikan Tutkimuksen Toimikunta

Keywords

Carbon sink
Carbon source
Disturbance
Drought
EVI
Eddy covariance

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10.1016/j.agrformet.2014.06.013

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Xiao, J., Ollinger, S. V., Frolking, S., Hurtt, G. C., Hollinger, D. Y., Davis, K. J., Pan, Y., Zhang, X., Deng, F., Chen, J., Baldocchi, D. D., Law, B. E., Arain, M. A., Desai, A. R., Richardson, A. D., Sun, G., Amiro, B., Margolis, H., Gu, L., ... Suyker, A. E. (2014). Data-driven diagnostics of terrestrial carbon dynamics over North America. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 197, 142-157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2014.06.013

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abstract = "The exchange of carbon dioxide is a key measure of ecosystem metabolism and a critical intersection between the terrestrial biosphere and the Earth's climate. Despite the general agreement that the terrestrial ecosystems in North America provide a sizeable carbon sink, the size and distribution of the sink remain uncertain. We use a data-driven approach to upscale eddy covariance flux observations from towers to the continental scale by integrating flux observations, meteorology, stand age, aboveground biomass, and a proxy for canopy nitrogen concentrations from AmeriFlux and Fluxnet-Canada Research Network as well as a variety of satellite data streams from the MODIS sensors. We then use the resulting gridded flux estimates from March 2000 to December 2012 to assess the magnitude, distribution, and interannual variability of carbon fluxes for the U.S. and Canada. The mean annual gross primary productivity (GPP), ecosystem respiration (ER), and net ecosystem productivity (NEP) of the U.S. over the period 2001-2012 were 6.84, 5.31, and 1.10PgCyr-1, respectively; the mean annual GPP, ER, and NEP of Canada over the same 12-year period were 3.91, 3.26, and 0.60PgCyr-1, respectively. The mean nationwide annual NEP of natural ecosystems over the period 2001-2012 was 0.53PgCyr-1 for the U.S. and 0.49PgCyr-1 for the conterminous U.S. Our estimate of the carbon sink for the conterminous U.S. was almost identical with the estimate of the First State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR). The carbon fluxes exhibited relatively large interannual variability over the study period. The main sources of the interannual variability in carbon fluxes included drought and disturbance. The annual GPP and NEP were strongly related to annual evapotranspiration (ET) for both the U.S. and Canada, showing that the carbon and water cycles were closely coupled. Our gridded flux estimates provided an independent, alternative perspective on ecosystem carbon exchange over North America.",

keywords = "Carbon sink, Carbon source, Disturbance, Drought, EVI, Eddy covariance",

author = "Jingfeng Xiao and Ollinger, {Scott V.} and Steve Frolking and Hurtt, {George C.} and Hollinger, {David Y.} and Davis, {Kenneth J.} and Yude Pan and Xiaoyang Zhang and Feng Deng and Jiquan Chen and Baldocchi, {Dennis D.} and Law, {Bevery E.} and Arain, {M. Altaf} and Desai, {Ankur R.} and Richardson, {Andrew D.} and Ge Sun and Brian Amiro and Hank Margolis and Lianhong Gu and Scott, {Russell L.} and Blanken, {Peter D.} and Suyker, {Andrew E.}",

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month = oct,

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doi = "10.1016/j.agrformet.2014.06.013",

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Xiao, J, Ollinger, SV, Frolking, S, Hurtt, GC, Hollinger, DY, Davis, KJ, Pan, Y, Zhang, X, Deng, F, Chen, J, Baldocchi, DD, Law, BE, Arain, MA, Desai, AR, Richardson, AD, Sun, G, Amiro, B, Margolis, H, Gu, L, Scott, RL, Blanken, PD & Suyker, AE 2014, 'Data-driven diagnostics of terrestrial carbon dynamics over North America', Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, vol. 197, pp. 142-157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2014.06.013

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T1 - Data-driven diagnostics of terrestrial carbon dynamics over North America

AU - Xiao, Jingfeng

AU - Ollinger, Scott V.

AU - Frolking, Steve

AU - Hurtt, George C.

AU - Hollinger, David Y.

AU - Davis, Kenneth J.

AU - Pan, Yude

AU - Zhang, Xiaoyang

AU - Deng, Feng

AU - Chen, Jiquan

AU - Baldocchi, Dennis D.

AU - Law, Bevery E.

AU - Arain, M. Altaf

AU - Desai, Ankur R.

AU - Richardson, Andrew D.

AU - Sun, Ge

AU - Amiro, Brian

AU - Margolis, Hank

AU - Gu, Lianhong

AU - Scott, Russell L.

AU - Blanken, Peter D.

AU - Suyker, Andrew E.

PY - 2014/10/15

Y1 - 2014/10/15

N2 - The exchange of carbon dioxide is a key measure of ecosystem metabolism and a critical intersection between the terrestrial biosphere and the Earth's climate. Despite the general agreement that the terrestrial ecosystems in North America provide a sizeable carbon sink, the size and distribution of the sink remain uncertain. We use a data-driven approach to upscale eddy covariance flux observations from towers to the continental scale by integrating flux observations, meteorology, stand age, aboveground biomass, and a proxy for canopy nitrogen concentrations from AmeriFlux and Fluxnet-Canada Research Network as well as a variety of satellite data streams from the MODIS sensors. We then use the resulting gridded flux estimates from March 2000 to December 2012 to assess the magnitude, distribution, and interannual variability of carbon fluxes for the U.S. and Canada. The mean annual gross primary productivity (GPP), ecosystem respiration (ER), and net ecosystem productivity (NEP) of the U.S. over the period 2001-2012 were 6.84, 5.31, and 1.10PgCyr-1, respectively; the mean annual GPP, ER, and NEP of Canada over the same 12-year period were 3.91, 3.26, and 0.60PgCyr-1, respectively. The mean nationwide annual NEP of natural ecosystems over the period 2001-2012 was 0.53PgCyr-1 for the U.S. and 0.49PgCyr-1 for the conterminous U.S. Our estimate of the carbon sink for the conterminous U.S. was almost identical with the estimate of the First State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR). The carbon fluxes exhibited relatively large interannual variability over the study period. The main sources of the interannual variability in carbon fluxes included drought and disturbance. The annual GPP and NEP were strongly related to annual evapotranspiration (ET) for both the U.S. and Canada, showing that the carbon and water cycles were closely coupled. Our gridded flux estimates provided an independent, alternative perspective on ecosystem carbon exchange over North America.

AB - The exchange of carbon dioxide is a key measure of ecosystem metabolism and a critical intersection between the terrestrial biosphere and the Earth's climate. Despite the general agreement that the terrestrial ecosystems in North America provide a sizeable carbon sink, the size and distribution of the sink remain uncertain. We use a data-driven approach to upscale eddy covariance flux observations from towers to the continental scale by integrating flux observations, meteorology, stand age, aboveground biomass, and a proxy for canopy nitrogen concentrations from AmeriFlux and Fluxnet-Canada Research Network as well as a variety of satellite data streams from the MODIS sensors. We then use the resulting gridded flux estimates from March 2000 to December 2012 to assess the magnitude, distribution, and interannual variability of carbon fluxes for the U.S. and Canada. The mean annual gross primary productivity (GPP), ecosystem respiration (ER), and net ecosystem productivity (NEP) of the U.S. over the period 2001-2012 were 6.84, 5.31, and 1.10PgCyr-1, respectively; the mean annual GPP, ER, and NEP of Canada over the same 12-year period were 3.91, 3.26, and 0.60PgCyr-1, respectively. The mean nationwide annual NEP of natural ecosystems over the period 2001-2012 was 0.53PgCyr-1 for the U.S. and 0.49PgCyr-1 for the conterminous U.S. Our estimate of the carbon sink for the conterminous U.S. was almost identical with the estimate of the First State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR). The carbon fluxes exhibited relatively large interannual variability over the study period. The main sources of the interannual variability in carbon fluxes included drought and disturbance. The annual GPP and NEP were strongly related to annual evapotranspiration (ET) for both the U.S. and Canada, showing that the carbon and water cycles were closely coupled. Our gridded flux estimates provided an independent, alternative perspective on ecosystem carbon exchange over North America.

KW - Carbon sink

KW - Carbon source

KW - Disturbance

KW - Drought

KW - EVI

KW - Eddy covariance

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84904539244&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.agrformet.2014.06.013

DO - 10.1016/j.agrformet.2014.06.013

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84904539244

SN - 0168-1923

VL - 197

SP - 142

EP - 157

JO - Agricultural and Forest Meteorology

JF - Agricultural and Forest Meteorology

ER -

Data-driven diagnostics of terrestrial carbon dynamics over North America

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Funding

Keywords

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