Evaluation of remote sensing based terrestrial productivity from MODIS using regional tower eddy flux network observations

The Moderate Resolution Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor has provided near real-time estimates of gross primary production (GPP) since March 2000. We compare four years (2000 to 2003) of satellite-based calculations of GPP with tower eddy CO 2 flux-based estimates across diverse land cover types and climate regimes. We examine the potential error contributions from meteorology, leaf area index (LAI)/fPAR, and land cover. The error between annual GPP computed from NASA's Data Assimilation Office's (DAO) and tower-based meteorology is 28%, indicating that NASA's DAO global meteorology plays an important role in the accuracy of the GPP algorithm. Approximately 62% of MOD15-based estimates of LAI were within the…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Energy
• NA
  National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  Award: NAS5-31368
• UD
  U.S. Department of Agriculture
• UO
  University of Montana
• UF
  U.S. Forest Service
• RM
  Rocky Mountain Research Station