Evaluating the potential of MODIS satellite data to track temporal dynamics of autumn phenology in a temperate mixed forest

Lingling Liu; Liang Liang; Mark D. Schwartz; Alison Donnelly; Zhuosen Wang; Crystal B. Schaaf; Liangyun Liu

doi:10.1016/j.rse.2015.01.011

Evaluating the potential of MODIS satellite data to track temporal dynamics of autumn phenology in a temperate mixed forest

Lingling Liu, Liang Liang, Mark D. Schwartz, Alison Donnelly, Zhuosen Wang, Crystal B. Schaaf, Liangyun Liu

Geography

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45 Scopus citations

Abstract

Autumn phenology plays a critical role in regulating growing season duration and can be estimated from satellite remote sensing. However, to date, little work has been undertaken to evaluate the performance of remotely sensed autumn phenology, mainly due to a lack of spatiotemporally compatible field observations. To address this limitation, we conducted intensive ground observations of leaf coloration and leaf fall from 610 deciduous trees at two 625. ×. 625. m study areas within a mixed forest in northern Wisconsin, USA during 2010 and 2012. We derived landscape phenology (LP) indices by upscaling these plot-level observations to facilitate spatially compatible comparisons with coarse resolution satellite measures. The satellite-derived land surface phenology (LSP) was based on 250. m Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) data from both standard 16-day composite (MOD13Q1) and daily Nadir Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF)-Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR) products. The results revealed that LSP dormancy onset differed from the observed date of full leaf coloration by 5.25. days on average (ranging from 0 to 12. days). Furthermore, progression of the autumn season as determined from LSP and LP showed close agreement as increasing LP leaf coloration corresponded to declining NDVI and EVI values. In addition, the end of the leaf coloring phase was marked by a simultaneous stabilizing of both NDVI and EVI time series whereas the timing of the end of the growing season (leaf fall) closely corresponded to minimum NDVI values. These findings clearly support the use of satellite measurements to effectively monitor temporal dynamics of autumn phenology in a temperate mixed forest.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	156-165
Number of pages	10
Journal	Remote Sensing of Environment
Volume	160
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2015.01.011
State	Published - Apr 1 2015

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We would like to acknowledge Audrey Fusco, Jacquelyn Hurry, and Isaac Park who all contributed to the in situ phenological data collection. We are grateful to the entire staff at the Kemp Natural Resources Station for their support during all of our field campaigns. The authors would also thank the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments, and Xiaoyang Zhang for his insight on land surface phenology extraction. This project was supported by the National Science Foundation under grants BCS-0649380 , 0937735 , and 1157215 ; and the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant 41222008 .

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Inc.

Keywords

EOS land validation core site
Fall season
Land surface phenology
Landscape phenology
Northern USA
Temperate forest

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Soil Science
Geology
Computers in Earth Sciences

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.rse.2015.01.011

Cite this

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title = "Evaluating the potential of MODIS satellite data to track temporal dynamics of autumn phenology in a temperate mixed forest",

abstract = "Autumn phenology plays a critical role in regulating growing season duration and can be estimated from satellite remote sensing. However, to date, little work has been undertaken to evaluate the performance of remotely sensed autumn phenology, mainly due to a lack of spatiotemporally compatible field observations. To address this limitation, we conducted intensive ground observations of leaf coloration and leaf fall from 610 deciduous trees at two 625. ×. 625. m study areas within a mixed forest in northern Wisconsin, USA during 2010 and 2012. We derived landscape phenology (LP) indices by upscaling these plot-level observations to facilitate spatially compatible comparisons with coarse resolution satellite measures. The satellite-derived land surface phenology (LSP) was based on 250. m Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) data from both standard 16-day composite (MOD13Q1) and daily Nadir Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF)-Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR) products. The results revealed that LSP dormancy onset differed from the observed date of full leaf coloration by 5.25. days on average (ranging from 0 to 12. days). Furthermore, progression of the autumn season as determined from LSP and LP showed close agreement as increasing LP leaf coloration corresponded to declining NDVI and EVI values. In addition, the end of the leaf coloring phase was marked by a simultaneous stabilizing of both NDVI and EVI time series whereas the timing of the end of the growing season (leaf fall) closely corresponded to minimum NDVI values. These findings clearly support the use of satellite measurements to effectively monitor temporal dynamics of autumn phenology in a temperate mixed forest.",

keywords = "EOS land validation core site, Fall season, Land surface phenology, Landscape phenology, Northern USA, Temperate forest",

author = "Lingling Liu and Liang Liang and Schwartz, {Mark D.} and Alison Donnelly and Zhuosen Wang and Schaaf, {Crystal B.} and Liangyun Liu",

note = "Funding Information: We would like to acknowledge Audrey Fusco, Jacquelyn Hurry, and Isaac Park who all contributed to the in situ phenological data collection. We are grateful to the entire staff at the Kemp Natural Resources Station for their support during all of our field campaigns. The authors would also thank the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments, and Xiaoyang Zhang for his insight on land surface phenology extraction. This project was supported by the National Science Foundation under grants BCS-0649380 , 0937735 , and 1157215 ; and the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant 41222008 . Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2015 Elsevier Inc.",

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AU - Liang, Liang

AU - Schwartz, Mark D.

AU - Donnelly, Alison

AU - Wang, Zhuosen

AU - Schaaf, Crystal B.

AU - Liu, Liangyun

N1 - Funding Information: We would like to acknowledge Audrey Fusco, Jacquelyn Hurry, and Isaac Park who all contributed to the in situ phenological data collection. We are grateful to the entire staff at the Kemp Natural Resources Station for their support during all of our field campaigns. The authors would also thank the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments, and Xiaoyang Zhang for his insight on land surface phenology extraction. This project was supported by the National Science Foundation under grants BCS-0649380 , 0937735 , and 1157215 ; and the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant 41222008 . Publisher Copyright: © 2015 Elsevier Inc.

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Y1 - 2015/4/1

N2 - Autumn phenology plays a critical role in regulating growing season duration and can be estimated from satellite remote sensing. However, to date, little work has been undertaken to evaluate the performance of remotely sensed autumn phenology, mainly due to a lack of spatiotemporally compatible field observations. To address this limitation, we conducted intensive ground observations of leaf coloration and leaf fall from 610 deciduous trees at two 625. ×. 625. m study areas within a mixed forest in northern Wisconsin, USA during 2010 and 2012. We derived landscape phenology (LP) indices by upscaling these plot-level observations to facilitate spatially compatible comparisons with coarse resolution satellite measures. The satellite-derived land surface phenology (LSP) was based on 250. m Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) data from both standard 16-day composite (MOD13Q1) and daily Nadir Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF)-Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR) products. The results revealed that LSP dormancy onset differed from the observed date of full leaf coloration by 5.25. days on average (ranging from 0 to 12. days). Furthermore, progression of the autumn season as determined from LSP and LP showed close agreement as increasing LP leaf coloration corresponded to declining NDVI and EVI values. In addition, the end of the leaf coloring phase was marked by a simultaneous stabilizing of both NDVI and EVI time series whereas the timing of the end of the growing season (leaf fall) closely corresponded to minimum NDVI values. These findings clearly support the use of satellite measurements to effectively monitor temporal dynamics of autumn phenology in a temperate mixed forest.

AB - Autumn phenology plays a critical role in regulating growing season duration and can be estimated from satellite remote sensing. However, to date, little work has been undertaken to evaluate the performance of remotely sensed autumn phenology, mainly due to a lack of spatiotemporally compatible field observations. To address this limitation, we conducted intensive ground observations of leaf coloration and leaf fall from 610 deciduous trees at two 625. ×. 625. m study areas within a mixed forest in northern Wisconsin, USA during 2010 and 2012. We derived landscape phenology (LP) indices by upscaling these plot-level observations to facilitate spatially compatible comparisons with coarse resolution satellite measures. The satellite-derived land surface phenology (LSP) was based on 250. m Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) data from both standard 16-day composite (MOD13Q1) and daily Nadir Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF)-Adjusted Reflectance (NBAR) products. The results revealed that LSP dormancy onset differed from the observed date of full leaf coloration by 5.25. days on average (ranging from 0 to 12. days). Furthermore, progression of the autumn season as determined from LSP and LP showed close agreement as increasing LP leaf coloration corresponded to declining NDVI and EVI values. In addition, the end of the leaf coloring phase was marked by a simultaneous stabilizing of both NDVI and EVI time series whereas the timing of the end of the growing season (leaf fall) closely corresponded to minimum NDVI values. These findings clearly support the use of satellite measurements to effectively monitor temporal dynamics of autumn phenology in a temperate mixed forest.

KW - EOS land validation core site

KW - Fall season

KW - Land surface phenology

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KW - Temperate forest

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Evaluating the potential of MODIS satellite data to track temporal dynamics of autumn phenology in a temperate mixed forest

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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