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H2020Individual fellowship2016–2019

FLUOPHOT · Remotely quantifying vegetation productivity: exploiting sun-induced fluorescence-photosynthesis relationships through field and modelling methods

Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2016-09-01 → 2019-01-31
EU contribution
€158,122
Participants
1
Scheme
MSCA-IF-EF-ST

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Results in brief

Remotely quantifying vegetation productivity: exploiting sun-induced fluorescence-photosynthesis relationships through field and modelling methods

The consequences of global change will largely depend on the future trajectory of primary productivity on Earth, being a critical driver in setting the upper limits of the planet’s carrying capacity. Earth observation is one of the most powerful tools available to assess the functioning and productivity of the Earth’s vegetation in response to its environment. This functioning and productivity in the biosphere are mainly driven by photosynthesis, the critical reaction sustaining life on Earth by converting atmospheric carbon into biomass. Currently, it is not possible to measure the actual photosynthetic activity of the vegetation remotely. However, current improvements in Earth Observation technology allow the detection of a signal emitted directly from the photosynthetic machinery of plants: the sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF). Due to latest imaging spectrometry the retrieval of SIF became a novel research area aiming at mapping SIF from a site-specific scale towards a global scale. The Fluorescence Explorer (FLEX) proposed within the European Space Agency’s (ESA) series of ‘Earth Explorer’ satellite missions will be launched in 2022 and detect terrestrial SIF. Flying in tandem with Sentinel-3, FLEX will take advantage of its optical and thermal sensors which will lead to an integrated package of measurements to assess plant health. However, still some efforts are required for establishing well-funded relationships between SIF and photosynthesis under different plant physiological states. For this, FLUOPHOT’s main objective were to further improve the accuracy of plant productivity based on the remote SIF retrieval by establishing relationships between SIF emission and photosynthetic activity under different physiological plant conditions. An important knowledge deficit is the link between SIF and regulated protection mechanisms, a third energy dissipation pathway of vegetation to be taken into account for the energy balance.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

During the past few years airborne/spaceborne detection and quantification of sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) emitted by terrestrial vegetation became possible at several narrow wavelengths. These improvements in Earth Observation technology offer huge possibilities to increase our knowledge on the basic functioning of the Earth’s vegetation, i.e. the photosynthetic process of plants resulting in atmospheric carbon uptake. However, still some efforts are required for establishing well-funded relationships between SIF and photosynthesis under different plant physiological states. Hence, in order to improve the quantification of photosynthesis through SIF, the main aim of this proposal (FLUOPHOT) is to further establish the link between the SIF characteristics and both the actual and potential photosynthesis of the plant. This will be achieved by coupling dedicated field/laboratory measurements and campaigns with modelling activities. As a result of the planned activities, significant progress is foreseen in the remote quantification of vegetation productivity. FLUOPHOT strives to unravel fundamental SIF-photosynthesis systems at the leaf and canopy scale. These findings are in direct support of ESA’s candidate Earth Explorer mission FLEX, and eventually will lead to unbiased global estimates of photosynthetic carbon uptake.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • UNIVERSITAT DE VALENCIA · ValenciaCoordinatorSpain

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union