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Capturing the spatiotemporal variations in the gross primary productivity in coastal wetlands by integrating eddy covariance, Landsat, and MODIS satellite data : A case study in the Yangtze Estuary, China

Yang, Zhixuan ; Huang, Ying ; Duan, Zheng LU and Tang, Jianwu (2023) In Ecological Indicators 149.
Abstract

Accurate monitoring of the spatiotemporal variations in the gross primary productivity (GPP) in coastal wetlands is essential for blue carbon quantification. However, the currently available moderate-spatial-resolution GPP algorithms and products may contain large uncertainties and may rarely meet the demands of tidal wetland research. In this paper, we examine two statistical methods, namely, simple linear regression and random forest regression, to capture the high spatial resolution GPP variations in the salt marshes in the Yangtze Estuary by integrating multi-source data, including eddy covariance, Landsat, and Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite data. The satellite-derived photosynthetically active... (More)

Accurate monitoring of the spatiotemporal variations in the gross primary productivity (GPP) in coastal wetlands is essential for blue carbon quantification. However, the currently available moderate-spatial-resolution GPP algorithms and products may contain large uncertainties and may rarely meet the demands of tidal wetland research. In this paper, we examine two statistical methods, namely, simple linear regression and random forest regression, to capture the high spatial resolution GPP variations in the salt marshes in the Yangtze Estuary by integrating multi-source data, including eddy covariance, Landsat, and Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite data. The satellite-derived photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), enhanced vegetation index (EVI), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and normalized difference water index (NDWI) are used individually and in different combinations to drive the two statistical methods and investigate their performances in estimating the GPP. The results show that together with the PAR, the EVI generally has the greatest potential for GPP estimation (R2 > 0.75, RMSE < 6.80 μmol m−2 s−1) based on simple linear regression. However, the NDVI outperforms the EVI in wetlands with little tidal flooding and plant litter. The random forest method improves the performance in terms of upscaling the GPP measurements to large regions, and the combination of the EVI, NDVI, NDWI, and PAR performs the best, indicating that the use of the more advanced algorithm and the incorporation of a remotely sensed index that reflects the tidal influence are beneficial to GPP estimation in coastal salt marshes. Moreover, using Landsat data with a high spatial resolution (30 m) yields a much more accurate GPP estimation than using MODIS data with a 500 m resolution. Our results demonstrate that the use of high spatial resolution data, the proper use of remotely sensed indices, and the incorporation of a good combination of these indices through an advanced algorithm such as a machine learning algorithm are vital for capturing the nearly instantaneous GPP variations in coastal wetlands at large spatial scales.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Coastal salt marsh, Eddy covariance, Gross primary productivity, Machine learning method, Optical remote sensing
in
Ecological Indicators
volume
149
article number
110154
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85150847024
ISSN
1470-160X
DOI
10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.110154
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e208370e-626d-40c4-b553-c2963232ea48
date added to LUP
2023-05-22 11:22:13
date last changed
2023-05-22 11:22:13
@article{e208370e-626d-40c4-b553-c2963232ea48,
  abstract     = {{<p>Accurate monitoring of the spatiotemporal variations in the gross primary productivity (GPP) in coastal wetlands is essential for blue carbon quantification. However, the currently available moderate-spatial-resolution GPP algorithms and products may contain large uncertainties and may rarely meet the demands of tidal wetland research. In this paper, we examine two statistical methods, namely, simple linear regression and random forest regression, to capture the high spatial resolution GPP variations in the salt marshes in the Yangtze Estuary by integrating multi-source data, including eddy covariance, Landsat, and Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite data. The satellite-derived photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), enhanced vegetation index (EVI), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and normalized difference water index (NDWI) are used individually and in different combinations to drive the two statistical methods and investigate their performances in estimating the GPP. The results show that together with the PAR, the EVI generally has the greatest potential for GPP estimation (R<sup>2</sup> &gt; 0.75, RMSE &lt; 6.80 μmol m<sup>−2</sup> s<sup>−1</sup>) based on simple linear regression. However, the NDVI outperforms the EVI in wetlands with little tidal flooding and plant litter. The random forest method improves the performance in terms of upscaling the GPP measurements to large regions, and the combination of the EVI, NDVI, NDWI, and PAR performs the best, indicating that the use of the more advanced algorithm and the incorporation of a remotely sensed index that reflects the tidal influence are beneficial to GPP estimation in coastal salt marshes. Moreover, using Landsat data with a high spatial resolution (30 m) yields a much more accurate GPP estimation than using MODIS data with a 500 m resolution. Our results demonstrate that the use of high spatial resolution data, the proper use of remotely sensed indices, and the incorporation of a good combination of these indices through an advanced algorithm such as a machine learning algorithm are vital for capturing the nearly instantaneous GPP variations in coastal wetlands at large spatial scales.</p>}},
  author       = {{Yang, Zhixuan and Huang, Ying and Duan, Zheng and Tang, Jianwu}},
  issn         = {{1470-160X}},
  keywords     = {{Coastal salt marsh; Eddy covariance; Gross primary productivity; Machine learning method; Optical remote sensing}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Ecological Indicators}},
  title        = {{Capturing the spatiotemporal variations in the gross primary productivity in coastal wetlands by integrating eddy covariance, Landsat, and MODIS satellite data : A case study in the Yangtze Estuary, China}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.110154}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.110154}},
  volume       = {{149}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}