A framework to quantify the determinants of canopy photosynthesis and carbon uptake using time series of chlorophyll fluorescence

Abstract:

Uncertainty over the sign and magnitude of environmental forcing agents on fluxes of tropical forest carbon could be reduced with measurements of canopy photosynthesis. But no existing method can quantify photosynthesis within individual plants at scales larger than a few cm. Portable leaf chambers can determine leaf-level gas exchange, and eddy-covariance instruments infer the net ecosystem-atmosphere carbon flux. These endpoints represent an axis of granularity and extent. Single leaf measurements are finely grained, but necessarily limited in extent, and gas exchange for whole landscapes cannot resolve the performance or contributions of individual plants. This limits the ability of scientists to test mechanistic demographic and physiological hypotheses about the drivers of photosynthesis in ecosystems, and therefore to understand the determinants of carbon fluxes between tropical ecosystems and the atmosphere. Here I describe a framework to overcome these challenges using a program of drone-enabled remote sensing measurements of solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) coupled with ground-based physiological studies to understand the determinants of photosynthesis within leaves, individual organisms and large landscapes. The Brown Platform for Autonomous Remote Sensing (BPAR) is a suite of sensors carried by a gas-powered helicopter drone. By conducting frequent, low-altitude flights BPAR can produce VNIR imaging spectroscopy time series with measurements separated by minutes to hours at ground sample distances of 1 cm. The talk will focus on how measurements of SIF at these spatial and temporal scales can be coupled with models to infer the rate of electron transport and carbon assimilation.