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Remote sensing of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) is a rapidly advancing front in terrestrial vegetation science, with emerging capability in space-based methodologies and diverse application prospects. Although remote sensing of SIF -especially from space -is seen as a contemporary new specialty for terrestrial plants, it is founded upon a multi-decadal history of research, applications, and sensor developments in active and passive sensing of chlorophyll fluorescence. Current technical capabilities allow SIF to be measured across a range of biological, spatial, and temporal scales. As an optical signal, SIF may be assessed remotely using high-resolution spectral sensors in tandem with state-of-the-art algorithms to distinguish the emission from reflected and/or scattered ambient light. Because the red to far-red SIF emission is detectable non-invasively, it may be sampled repeatedly to acquire spatio-temporally explicit information about photosynthetic light responses and steady-state behaviour in vegetation.Progress in this field is accelerating with innovative sensor developments, retrieval methods, and modelling advances. This review distills the historical and current developments spanning the last several decades. It highlights SIF heritage and complementarity within the broader field of fluorescence science, the maturation of physiological and radiative transfer modelling, SIF signal retrieval strategies, techniques for field and airborne sensing, advances in satellite-based systems, and applications of these capabilities in evaluation of photosynthesis and stress effects. Progress, challenges, and future directions are considered for this unique avenue of remote sensing.

Remote sensing of far-red sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) has emerged as an important tool for studying gross primary productivity (GPP) at the global scale. However, the relationship between SIF and GPP at the canopy scale lacks a clear mechanistic explanation. This is largely due to the poorly characterized role of the relative contributions from canopy structure and leaf physiology to the variability of the top-of-canopy, observed SIF signal. In particular, the effect of the canopy structure beyond light absorption is that only a fraction (f esc) of the SIF emitted from all leaves in the canopy can escape from the canopy due to the strong scattering of near-infrared radiation. We combined rice, wheat and corn canopy-level in-situ datasets to study how the physiological and structural components of SIF individually relate to measures of photosynthesis. At seasonal time scales, we found a considerably strong positive correlation (R 2 =0.4-0.6) of f esc to the seasonal dynamics of the photosynthetic light use efficiency (LUE P), while the estimated physiological SIF yield was almost entirely uncorrelated to LUE P both at seasonal and diurnal time scales, with the partial exception of wheat. Consistent with these findings, the canopy structure and radiation component of SIF, defined as the product of APAR and f esc , explained the relationship of observed SIF to GPP and even outperformed GPP estimation based on observed SIF at two of the three sites investigated. These results held for both half-hourly and daily mean values. In contrast, the total emitted SIF, obtained by normalizing observed SIF for f esc , improved only the relationship to APAR but considerably decreased the correlation to GPP for all three crops. Our findings demonstrate the dominant role of canopy structure in the SIF-GPP relationship and establish a strong, mechanistic link between the near-infrared reflectance of vegetation (NIR V) and the relevant canopy structure information contained in the SIF signal. These insights are expected to be useful in improving remote sensing based GPP estimates.

In this study a method was designed to assess non-destructively the type of UV-screening compounds present in the leaf epidermis. The method is based on the recording and calculation of the ratio of UV-excitation spectra of chlorophyll fluorescence (FER) from the adaxial and abaxial sides of bifacial leaves, or from older and younger segments of monocotyledonous leaves. The logarithm of this ratio (logFER) matched the absorption spectrum of the UVabsorbers present in the leaf, as confirmed by its overlap with the absorption spectrum of the methanolic extract of the leaf or of the isolated epidermis. By using the logFER approach, it was possible to demonstrate that the concentration but not the classes of compounds present in the epidermis that are responsible for UV-screening is affected by the side and the age of the leaves. In contrast, measurements from the leaves of seven dicots and one monocot indicated large difference in the classes of these compounds between species. Finally, it was shown that the logFER in the UV is independent of the emission wavelength, and that the method can be used for quantitative measurements. This method expands to the spectral domain the use of ChlF for the estimation of the leaf epidermal transmittance.

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International audienceThis paper presents a field platform for continuous measurement of fluorescence at the canopy level. It consists of a 21-m-high crane equipped for fluorescence measurements. The crane is installed in the middle of the fields dedicated to agricultural research. Thanks to a jib of 24 m and a railway of 100 m distance, fluorescence measurements can be performed at nadir viewing over various field crops. The platform is dedicated to the development and test of future passive or active airborne and space-borne vegetation sensors. A new fully automatic instrument, called TriFLEX, has been installed at the end of the jib. TriFLEX is designed for passive measurement of fluorescence in the oxygen A and B absorption bands. It is based on three spectrometers and allows for continuous measurements with a repetition rate of about 1 Hz. The data products are the radiances of the target, the fluorescence flux at 687 and 760 nm, and several vegetation indexes, including the photochemical reflectance index and the normalized difference vegetation index. A new algorithm for fluorescence retrieval from spectral bands measurement is described. It improves upon the well-known Fraunhofer line discriminator method applied to passive fluorescence measurement by taking into account the spectral shape of fluorescence and the reflectance of vegetation. A measurement campaign of 38 days has been carried out in summer 2008 over a sorghum field. The evolution of the signals showed that the crop was suffering from stress due to lack of water. After several rainy days, a reversion of the water stress was observed

Dualex (dual excitation) is a field-portable instrument, hereby described, for the assessment of polyphenolic compounds in leaves from the measurement of UV absorbance of the leaf epidermis by double excitation of chlorophyll fluorescence. The instrument takes advantage of a feedback loop that equalizes the fluorescence level induced by a reference red light to the UV-light-induced fluorescence level. This allows quick measurement from attached leaves even under field conditions. The use of light-emitting diodes and of a leaf-clip configuration makes Dualex a user-friendly instrument with potential applications in ecophysiological research, light climate analysis, agriculture, forestry, horticulture, pest management, selection of medicinal plants, and wherever accumulation of leaf polyphenolics is involved in plant responses to the environment.

Sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) is a radiation flux emitted by chlorophyll molecules in the red (RSIF) and far red region (FRSIF), and is considered as a potential indicator of the functional state of photosynthesis in remote sensing applications. Recently, ground studies and space observations have demonstrated a strong empirical linear relationship between FRSIF and carbon uptake through photosynthesis (GPP, gross primary production). In this study, we investigated the potential of RSIF and FRSIF to represent the functional status of photosynthesis at canopy level on a wheat crop. RSIF and FRSIF were continuously measured in the O 2 -B (SIF687) and O 2 -A bands (SIF760) at a high frequency rate from a nadir view at a height of 21 m, simultaneously with carbon uptake using eddy covariance (EC) techniques. The relative fluorescence yield (Fyield) and the photochemical yield were acquired at leaf level using active fluorescence measurements. SIF was normalized with photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) to derive apparent spectral fluorescence yields (ASFY687, ASFY760). At the diurnal scale, we found limited variations of ASFY687 and ASFY760 during sunny days. We also did not find any link between Fyield and light use efficiency (LUE) derived from EC, which would prevent SIF from indicating LUE changes. The coefficient of determination (r 2 ) of the linear regression between SIF and GPP is found to be highly variable, depending on the emission wavelength, the time scale of observation, sky conditions, and the phenological stage. Despite its photosystem II (PSII) origin, SIF687 correlates less than SIF760 with GPP in any cases. The strongest SIF-GPP relationship was found for SIF760 during canopy growth. When canopy is in a steady state, SIF687 and SIF760 are almost as effective as PAR in predicting GPP. Our results imply some constraints in the use of simple linear relationships to infer GPP from SIF, as they are expected to be better predictive with far red SIF for canopies with a high dynamic range of green biomass and a low LUE variation range.