Sun Xiaomin

Seasonal dynamics of soil CO2 effluxes with responses to environmental factors in lower subtropical forests of China

Seasonal metrics and environmental responses to forestry soil surface CO2 emission effluxes among three types of lower subtropical forests were consistently monitored over two years with static chamber-gas chromatograph techniques among three types of lower subtropical forests. Results showed that annual CO2 effluxes (S+L) reached 3942.20, 3422.36 and 2163.02 CO2 g·m−2·a−1, respectively in the monsoon evergreen broadleaf forest, mixed broadleaf-coniferous forest and coniferous forest. All the three types of forests revealed the same characteristics of seasonal changes with the CO2 effluxes peaking throughout June to August. During this peaking period, the effluxes were 35.9%, 38.1% and 40.2% of the total annual effluxes, respectively. The CO2 emission process responding to the environmental factors displayed significantly different patterns in forestry soils of the three types of forests. The coniferous forest (CF) was more sensitive to temperature than the other two types. The Q10 values were higher, along with greater seasonal variations of the CO2 efflux, indicating that the structurally unique forestry ecosystem has disadvantage against interferences. All the three types of forestry CO2 effluxes showed significant correlation with the soil temperature (Ts), soil water content (Ms) and air pressure (Pa). However, stepwise regression analysis indicated no significant correlation between air pressure and the soil CO2 efflux. With an empirical model to measure soil temperature and water content in 5 cm beneath the soil surface, the CO2 effluxes accounting for 75.7%, 77.8% and 86.5% of the efflux variability respectively in soils of BF, MF and PF were calculated. This model can be better used to evaluate the CO2 emission of soils under water stress and arid or semi-arid conditions.

The potential information in the temperature difference between shadow and sunlit of surfaces and a new way of retrieving the soil moisture

The thermal inertia and plant water stress index are often adopted to estimate soil moisture available for crops or plants. However, it is not very easy to obtain two temporal temperatures for thermal inertia model and air temperature for the plant water stress mode. Shadows of ground objects are often referred to noise on visible and near infrared remote sensing. But the difference of temperature between shadows and sunlit contains rich information concerning with heat-water status for soil. This paper presented a new way to excavate just by temperature difference usually between shadow and sunlit surface. Experiments validated the ideal. We can adopt thermal camera to measure the differences in the field measurements. However, we must use inversion based on multianglar thermal infrared remote sensing data in airborne and spaceborne. An inverting model was also presented by using Monte-Carlo and the least square method. Results show that this way is feasible.

Short-term variations of vapor isotope ratios reveal the influence of atmospheric processes

Stable isotopes of atmospheric water vapor reveal rich information on water movement and phase changes in the atmosphere. Here we presented two nearly continuous time-series of δD and δ18O of atmospheric water vapor (δv) measured at hourly intervals in surface air in Beijing and above a winter wheat canopy in Shijiazhuang using in-situ measurement technique. During the precipitation events, the δv values in both Beijing and Shijiazhuang were in the state of equilibrium with precipitation water, revealing the influence of precipitation processes. However, the δv departures from the equilibrium state were positively correlated with local relative humidity. Note that the δv tended to enrich in Beijing, but deplete in Shijiazhuang during the precipitation events, which mainly resulted from the influence of transpiration processes that enriched the δv in Shijiazhuang. On seasonal time-scale, the δv values were log-linear functions of water vapor mixing ratios in both Beijing and Shijiazhuang. The water vapor mixing ratio was an excellent predictor of the δv by the Rayleigh distillation mechanisms, indicating that air mass advection could also play an important role in determining the δv. On a diurnal time-scale, the δv reached the minimum in the early afternoon hours in Beijing which was closely related to the atmospheric processes of boundary layer entrainment. During the peak of growing season of winter wheat, however, the δv reached the minimum in the early morning, and increased gradually through the daytime, and reached the maximum in the late afternoon, which was responsible by the interaction between boundary layer entrainment and the local atmospheric processes, such as transpiration and dew formation. This study has the implications for the important role of vegetation in determining the surface δv and highlights the need to conduct δv measurement on short-term (e.g. diurnal) time scales.

Statistical analysis and comparative study of energy balance components estimated using micrometeorological techniques during HUBEX/IOP 1998/99

In order to study energy and water cycles in the Huaihe River Basin, micrometeorological measurements were carried out in Shouxian County, Anhui Province, during HUBEX/IOP (May to August 1998 and June to July 1999). The employed techniques included Bowen Ratio-Energy Balance (BREB) and Eddy Covariance (EC) methods. In this paper, the basic characteristics of the energy balance components in the district are analyzed. Furthermore, the results are compared with those from other regions of China. The main results are as follows: (1) There was a consistency between the available energy (Rn−G) and the sum of sensible (H) and latent (E) heat fluxes measured by the EC method (H+E)ec, but Ebr was slightly larger (about 10%) than Eec; (2) Most of the net radiation (Rn) was used to evaporate water from the surface. During HUBEX/IOP in 1998 and 1999, the mean daily amounts of Rn were 13.89 MJ m−2d−1 and 11.83 MJ m−2d−1, and the mean Bowen Ratios (β) were 0.14 (over ruderal) and 0.06 (over paddy) respectively; (3) The diurnal variation characteristic of β was larger and unsteady at sunrise and sunset, and smaller and steady during the rest of the daytime. Local advection appeared in the afternoon over paddy areas in 1999; (4) In comparison with the results from other regions of China, the mean β was the lowest (0.06) over paddy areas in the Huaihe River Basin and the highest (0.57) during June–August 1998 in Inner Mongolia grassland. The Bowen Ratio β is mainly related to the soil humidity.

Seasonal variations and mechanism for environmental control of NEE of CO2 concerning the Potentilla fruticosa in alpine shrub meadow of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The study by the eddy covariance technique in the alpine shrub meadow of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in 2003 and 2004 showed that the net ecosystem carbon dioxide exchange (NEE) exhibited noticeable diurnal and annual variations, with more distinct daily changes during the warmer seasons. The CO2 emission of the shrub ecosystem culminated in April and September while the CO2 absorption capacity reached a maximum in July and August. The absorbed carbon dioxide during the two consecutive years was 231.4 and 274.8 g CO2·m−2 respectively, yielding an average of 253.1 gCO2·m−2 per year: that accounts for a large proportion of absorbed CO2 in the region. Obviously, the diurnal carbon flux was negatively related to temperature, radiation and other atmospheric factors. Still, minute discrepancies in kurtosis and duration of carbon emission/absorption were detected between 2003 and 2004. It was found that the CO2 flux in the daytime was similarly affected by photosynthetic photon flux density in both years. Temperature appears to be the most important determinant of CO2 flux: specifically, the high temperature during the plant growing season inhibits the carbon absorption capacity. One potential explanation is that soil respiration is enhanced under such condition. Analysis of biomass revealed that the annual net carbon fixed capacity of aboveground and belowground biomass was 544.0 in 2003 and 559.4 g C·m−2 in 2004, which coincided with the NEE absorption capacity (63.1 g C·m−2 in 2003 and 74.9 g C·m−2 in 2004) in the corresponding plant growing season.

Construction and progress of Chinese terrestrial ecosystem carbon, nitrogen and water fluxes coordinated observation

Eddy Covariance technique (EC) achieves the direct measurement on ecosystem carbon, nitrogen and water fluxes, and it provides scientific data for accurately assessing ecosystem functions in mitigating global climate change. This paper briefly reviewed the construction and development of Chinese terrestrial ecosystem flux observation and research network (ChinaFLUX), and systematically introduced the design principle and technology of the terrestrial ecosystem carbon, nitrogen and water fluxes coordinated observation system of ChinaFLUX. In addition, this paper summarized the main progress of ChinaFLUX in the ecosystem carbon, nitrogen and water exchange and environmental controlling mechanisms, the spatial pattern of carbon, nitrogen and water fluxes and biogeographical mechanisms, and the regional terrestrial ecosystem carbon budget assessment. Finally, the prospects and emphases of the terrestrial ecosystem carbon, nitrogen and water fluxes coordinated observation of ChinaFLUX are put forward to provide theoretical references for the development of flux observation and research in China.

Net water vapour exchange over a mixed needle and broad-leaved forest in Changbai Mountain during autumn

Water vapour and CO2 fluxes were measured by the eddy-covariance technique above a mixed needle and broad-leaved forest with affiliated meteorological measurements in Changbai Mountain as part of China’s FLUX projects since late August in 2002. Net water vapour exchange and environmental control over the forest were examined from September 1 to October 31 in 2002. To quantify the seasonal dynamics, the transition period was separated into leafed, leaf falling and leafless stages according to the development of leaf area. The results showed that (a) seasonal variation of water vapour exchange was mainly controlled by net radiation (Rn) which could account for 78.5%, 63.4% and 56.6% for leafed, leaf falling and leafless stages, respectively, while other environmental factors’ effects varied evidently; (b) magnitude of water vapour flux decreased remarkably during autumn and daily mean of water vapour exchange was 24.2 mg m−2 s−1 (100%), 14.8 mg m−2 s−1 (61.2%) and 10.3 mg m−2 s−1 (42.6%) for leafed, leaf falling and leafless stage, respectively; and (c) the budget of water vapour exchange during autumn was estimated to be 87.1 kg H2O m−2, with a mean of 1427.2 g H2O d−1 varying markedly from 3104.0 to 227.5 g H2O m−2d−1.

Species- and Community-Scale Simulation of the Phenology of a Temperate Forest in Changbai Mountain Based on Digital Camera Images

Abstract: Vegetation phenology is an important parameter in models of global vegetation and land surfaces, as the accuracy of these simulations depends strongly on the description of the canopy status. Temperate forests represent one of the major types of vegetation at mid-high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere and act as a globally important carbon sink. Thus, a better understanding of the phenological variables of temperate forests will improve the accuracy of vegetation models and estimates of regional carbon fluxes. In this work, we explored the possibility of using digital camera images to monitor phenology at species and community scales of a temperate forest in northeastern China, and used the greenness index derived from these digital images to optimize phenological model parameters. The results show that at the species scale, the onset dates of phenological phases (Korean pine, Mongolian oak) derived from the images are close to those from field observations (error < 3d). At the community scale the time series data accurately reflected the observed canopy status (R2 =0.9) simulated using the phenological model, especially in autumn. The phenological model was derived from simple meteorological data and environmental factors optimized using the greenness index. These simulations provide a powerful means of analyzing environmental factors that control the phenology of temperate forests. The results indicate that digital images can be used to obtain accurate phenological data and provide reference data to validate remote-sensing phenological data. In addition, we propose a new method to accurately track phenological phases in land-surface models and reduce uncertainty in spatial carbon flux simulations.

Characteristics of net ecosystem carbon dioxide exchange (NEE) from August to October of Alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau, China

The Alpine meadow is one of the vegetation types widely distributed on the Tibetan Plateau in China with an area of about 1.2 million square kilometers. The Damxung rangeland station, located in the hinterland of the Tibetan Plateau, is covered with an typical vegetation. The continuous carbon flux data (from August to middle October, 2003) measured with the open-path eddy covariance system was used to analyze the diurnal variation pattern of net ecosystem carbon dioxide exchange (NEE) and its relationship with the environmental factors, such as photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), precipitation, and temperature. Results showed that NEE presented obvious diurnal variation pattern with single-peak of diurnal maximum carbon assimilation at 11: 00–12: 00 (local time) with an average of −0.268 mg CO2·m−2·s−1, i.e., −6.08 μmol CO2·m−2·s−1. During the daytime, NEE fitted fairly well with PAR in a rectangular hyperbola function with the apparent quantum yield (0.020 3 μmol CO2 μmol−1 PAR) and maximum ecosystem assimilation (9.741 1 μmol CO2·m−2·s−1). During the night-time, NEE showed a good exponential relation with the soil temperature at 5 cm depth.

Component temperatures inversion for remote sensing pixel

A simple directional thermal infrared model is presented, and its inversion is discussed in detail. The information contents in data space and parameter space are defined, and the process of information transfer in inversion is studied. Based on this study, the authors made improvement to the cost function. The forward model and inversion method are validated with indoor directional measurement data. The results show that the model fits the measurement data very well, and their study on the information transfer in inversion is helpful to use the information of given observations in a more effective way.