Simulation of Soil Water Content in Mediterranean Ecosystems by Biogeochemical and Remote Sensing Models

Battista, Piero; Chiesi, Marta; Fibbi, Luca; Gardin, Lorenzo; Rapi, B.; Romanelli, Stefano; Romani, Maurizio; Sabatini, Francesco; Salerni, Elena; Perini, Claudia; Maselli, Fabio

doi:10.3390/w10050665

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 42 publications

(53 reference statements)

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“…The model requires the definition of soil field capacity and saturation, which are jointly used to bound the upper VSWC variability; the lower VSWC boundary is usually set to zero. A full description of this modelling approach with relevant advantages and limitations is given in Battista et al (2018). The daily ET A estimates required by Equation ( 1) are obtained through the NDVI-Cws method (Maselli et al, 2014).…”

Section: Swc Simulation Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is the case for the method proposed by Maselli, Chiesi, Angeli, Papale, and Seufert (2014), named NDVI-Cws, which was specifically aimed at estimating ET A in water limited Mediterranean areas. The method developed is based on the combination of meteorological and satellite NDVI data and can be applied to drive a simplified model which simulates the daily variability of soil water content (SWC) (Battista et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatio-temporal fusion of NDVI data for simulating soil water content in heterogeneous Mediterranean areas

Chiesi

Battista

Fibbi

et al. 2018

European Journal of Remote Sensing

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Recent studies have demonstrated that the soil water content (SWC) of Mediterranean ecosystems can be simulated by combining ground data and remote sensing observations of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). The application of this approach in heterogeneous and fragmented areas, however, requires the use of spatio-temporal fusion (STF) methods to properly account for the actual NDVI variability of the examined ecosystems. One of these methods, which was specifically developed to produce annual NDVI data series in Mediterranean regions, is currently applied to MODIS and TM/ETM+ images taken over a highly fragmented green urban area in Florence (Central Italy). The performances of this STF method, called SEVIS, are indirectly evaluated by comparing local SWC measurements to simulations driven by the original (MODIS) and fused (MODIS+TM/ETM+) NDVI datasets. The results obtained confirm the critical dependence of the applied SWC simulation strategy on the efficient accounting for the actual NDVI evolution of the observed ecosystem. In particular, the use of the fused NDVI dataset corrects almost completely for the strong SWC underestimation produced by the original MODIS images during the summer dry period, significantly improving all accuracy statistics (r 2 from 0.564 to 0.855, RMSE from 0.101 to 0.044 cm 3 cm −3 and MBE from −0.046 to 0.000 cm 3 cm −3 ).

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Section: Swc Simulation Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatio-temporal fusion of NDVI data for simulating soil water content in heterogeneous Mediterranean areas

Chiesi

Battista

Fibbi

et al. 2018

European Journal of Remote Sensing

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“…for example, assessed the ETa estimates obtained from MODIS NDVI imagery versus eddy covariance LE measurements taken in several Italian forest and cropped areas. An inter-comparison between the forest ETa estimates yielded by the NDVI-Cws method fed with the same NDVI data and a bio-geochemical model was performed by Battista et al 44 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of satellite application facility on land surface analysis products to improve an operational method for monitoring forest evapotranspiration

Fibbi¹,

Pieri²,

Chiesi³

et al. 2023

J. Appl. Rem. Sens.

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.We propose a modification of a water balance method (NDVI-Cws) aimed at improving the estimation of actual evapotranspiration in forest areas. The improvement concerns the calibration of the Cws meteorological factor, which regulates the sensitivity of forest ecosystems to short-term water stress. Such calibration is based on Satellite Application Facility on Land Surface Analysis evapotranspiration products, which are informative on the actual impact of water stress on plant evapotranspiration. The original and calibrated versions of NDVI-Cws are applied in two environmentally diversified forest areas in Central Italy, where water fluxes were measured by the eddy covariance technique. The first site corresponds to a Mediterranean coastal pine forest (San Rossore) and the second to a mountain beech forest (Collelongo), where water fluxes were measured for the years 2001 to 2005 and 2000 to 2009, respectively. The calibration performed leaves unchanged the model setting for San Rossore while it induces a reduction of the model sensitivity to water stress for Collelongo. The calibrated NDVI-Cws version yields optimal evapotranspiration estimation accuracies for both study sites; the determination coefficient is around 0.90, the root mean square error is lower than 0.30 mm day − 1 and the mean bias error is around ±0.01 mm day − 1. These findings indicate that the modified water stress factor is a realistic descriptor of the soil–vegetation–atmosphere response of forest ecosystems to water shortage.

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“…During the dry‐down period (May–July), SWC drops dramatically on the topsoil layers due to increasing ET with the rise of air temperature and scarce rainfall (Battista et al., 2018; Luo et al., 2018; Montaldo, Albertson, & Mancini, 2008). Under these circumstances, faster usage of water in the NT accelerates the decrease in SWC on the topsoil (Figure S11) and furtherly hampers the photosynthesis once the SWC drops below certain amounts (Sardans & Peñuelas, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutrients and water availability constrain the seasonality of vegetation activity in a Mediterranean ecosystem

Luo

El‐Madany

et al. 2020

Global Change Biology

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Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition and resulting differences in ecosystem N and phosphorus (P) ratios are expected to impact photosynthetic capacity, that is, maximum gross primary productivity (GPPmax). However, the interplay between N and P availability with other critical resources on seasonal dynamics of ecosystem productivity remains largely unknown. In a Mediterranean tree–grass ecosystem, we established three landscape‐level (24 ha) nutrient addition treatments: N addition (NT), N and P addition (NPT), and a control site (CT). We analyzed the response of ecosystem to altered nutrient stoichiometry using eddy covariance fluxes measurements, satellite observations, and digital repeat photography. A set of metrics, including phenological transition dates (PTDs; timing of green‐up and dry‐down), slopes during green‐up and dry‐down period, and seasonal amplitude, were extracted from time series of GPPmax and used to represent the seasonality of vegetation activity. The seasonal amplitude of GPPmax was higher for NT and NPT than CT, which was attributed to changes in structure and physiology induced by fertilization. PTDs were mainly driven by rainfall and exhibited no significant differences among treatments during the green‐up period. Yet, both fertilized sites senesced earlier during the dry‐down period (17–19 days), which was more pronounced in the NT due to larger evapotranspiration and water usage. Fertilization also resulted in a faster increase in GPPmax during the green‐up period and a sharper decline in GPPmax during the dry‐down period, with less prominent decline response in NPT. Overall, we demonstrated seasonality of vegetation activity was altered after fertilization and the importance of nutrient–water interaction in such water‐limited ecosystems. With the projected warming‐drying trend, the positive effects of N fertilization induced by N deposition on GPPmax may be counteracted by an earlier and faster dry‐down in particular in areas where the N:P ratio increases, with potential impact on the carbon cycle of water‐limited ecosystems.

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Simulation of Soil Water Content in Mediterranean Ecosystems by Biogeochemical and Remote Sensing Models

Cited by 7 publications

References 42 publications

Spatio-temporal fusion of NDVI data for simulating soil water content in heterogeneous Mediterranean areas

Spatio-temporal fusion of NDVI data for simulating soil water content in heterogeneous Mediterranean areas

Use of satellite application facility on land surface analysis products to improve an operational method for monitoring forest evapotranspiration

Nutrients and water availability constrain the seasonality of vegetation activity in a Mediterranean ecosystem

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