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Validating the Sentinel-2 fAPAR Product in Three Forest Ecosystems

Considering Uncertainties of Ground Measurements

Poster · May 2019

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.35703.37288

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Birgitta Putzenlechner Iain Sharp

Georg-August-Universität Göttingen University of Alberta
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 Validating the Sentinel-2 fAPAR Product in Three Forest
Ecosystems Considering Uncertainties of Ground Measurements
B. Putzenlechner1), I. Sharp2), P. Marzahn1), R. Kiese3), R. Ludwig1), A. Sanchez-Azofeifa2)
1) Department of Geography, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, Germany; contact: b.putzenlechner@iggf.geo.uni-muenchen.de
2) Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
3) Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research - Atmospheric Environmental Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Garmisch-
Partenkirchen, Germany
MOTIVATION
• Spatially-distributed estimates of the fraction of Absorbed
Photosynthetically Active Radiation (fAPAR) are needed for
assessing global carbon balances.
• Sentinel-2 (S2) enables to assess the productivity and
dynamics at single forest stands.
• However, existing satellite-derived fAPAR products have
been found to exceed the accuracy threshold of 10% set by
the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), especially
in forest ecosystems (D’ODORICO ET AL. 2014).
• Uncertainties of ground measurements are often not
considered in the validation process.
• Aim of this study: Validate the S2 fAPAR product in three
different forest ecosystems (Fig. 1): a temperate conifer-
dominated forest in Southern Germany ("Graswang"), a
boreal deciduous forest in Northern Alberta ("Peace
River"), Canada and a tropical dry forest (TDF) in Costa
Rica ("Santa Rosa").
Figure 1: Locations of the three sites equipped with WSNs: (a) At Graswang
TERENO site, the reference sensor for incoming PAR is located on grassland
outside the forest, transmitted PAR was measured inside the forest with 16
WSN sensors; (b) The Peace River Environmental Super Site was equipped
with 22 WSN sensors for transmitted PAR inside the forest, incoming PAR was
measured on top of a flux tower; (c) At Santa Rosa National Park
Environmental Monitoring Super Site, data of 16 sensors for transmitted PAR
were used; incoming PAR was measured on top of a flux tower.
METHODS
• Quantum PAR sensors were arranged in Wireless Sensor
Networks (WSNs) to ensure synchronized and multi-sensor
data acquisition (Fig. 2).
• Incoming and transmitted PAR was measured above and
inside the canopy at 1.3 m every 10 min (Fig. 2).
→ Calculation of a two-flux fAPAR estimate
• Cloud-free S2 images were atmospherically corrected
("Sen2Cor" algorithm); fAPAR retrieval with “Biophysical
Processor” (S2 toolbox in ESA's software SNAP) (Fig. 3).
• Uncertainty assessment of ground data: investigations on
the bias of fAPAR during high solar zenith angles and
colored autumn leaves (PUTZENLECHNER ET AL. 2019);
calculation of different temporal aggregation schemes, i.e.
daily integrated fAPAR and fAPAR acquired at solar noon
Figure 2: Experimental setup of the study sites: WSN node were equipped
with PAR, temperature, relative humidity and soil moisture sensors (left image)
and arranged in hexagonal sampling schemes (here shown for the site
Graswang) (right image).
ICM R Helmholtz Research School on Mechanisms and
Interactions of Climate Change in Mountain Regions
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RESULTS & DISCUSSION
• High discrepancies between fAPAR ground measurements
and the S2 fAPAR product (<10%), exceeding the GCOS
accuracy threshold of (Fig. 4-5)
• Highest agreement between the S2 product and ground
measurements at the boreal forest, with a bias accounting
to 15.5 % (R²=0.67) (Table 1)
• Discrepancies considered to be mainly attributed to
different underlying fAPAR definitions (measured total vs.
green FAPAR of the S2 algorithm) and the "generic nature"
of the algorithm (WEISS & BARET 2016)
• An overestimation of ground fAPAR during the period of
leaf senescence (Fig. 6a) observable at all three sites (Fig.
4) as observed in studies with RTMs (WIDLOWSKI 2010)
• Significant differences between temporal aggregation
schemes (Table 1); possibly attributed to influence of solar
zenith angle in daily fAPAR estimates (Fig. 6b)
• Agreement on the onset of leaf development and
senescence (Fig. 4)
• Spatial variability attributed to species composition (i.e.,
contributions of spruces and beeches) at the temperate site
represented in the S2 product (Fig. 4d)
Figure 4: Daily fAPAR as spatial average and at individual sensor locations
measured with WSNs compared to the S2 fAPAR product for the year 2017 at
(a) Graswang, (b) Peace River and (c) Santa Rosa sites. Panel (d) shows
fAPAR distinguished for sensor locations with a higher percentage of spruces
and beeches, respectively.
Table 1: Overview of the MEAN and SD of distributions of different temporal
fAPAR estimates of spatially aggregated fAPAR at different sites; correlation
analysis and performance metrics of temporal fAPAR estimates vs. the
fAPAR S2 product are shown. Significant differences (n = 206, KS test: p <
0.05) between value distributions of fAPAR estimates and daily fAPAR are
indicated with *.
(a)
(b)
Figure 6: Uncertainty assessment at Graswang: (a) spatially aggregated
measured fAPAR (±SD) for different solar zenith angles at the site; (b)
distributions of measured fAPAR under diffuse light conditions for different
periods of leaf colors of beech leaves (PUTZENLECHNER ET AL. 2019).
(a) (b) (c)
Figure 3: S2 fAPAR products at (a) Graswang, (b) Peace River and (c) Santa
Rosa for several dates, representing early, peak and end of vegetation
periods.
(a) (b)
(c)
Figure 5: Daily fAPAR of WSN vs. S2 at (a) Graswang, (b) Peace River and
(c) Santa Rosa. Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Mean Absolute Error
(MAE), coefficient of determination (R²), Major Axis Regression (M.A.R.) and
percent bias (%BIAS) are shown. The continuous black lines correspond to
slopes and intercepts of the M.A.R.s, the dashed lines display the 95%-
significance level. The red line marks the 1:1 line.
CONCLUSIONS
• fAPAR monitoring performed with WSNs can be used to
retrieve in-situ estimates that are urgently needed to
validate and improve satellite-derived fAPAR products.
• Uncertainties of ground data (< 5%) could not explain high
discrepancies with S2 fAPAR product.
• The choice of temporal fAPAR estimate should be well-
argued and included in validation protocols.
• The actual S2 fAPAR product at the forested sites holds
limited opportunities to feed production efficiency models
but showed strong capabilities for monitoring phenological
changes as well as spatial variability attributed to different
species composition.
REFERENCES
• D’ODRICO, P., GONSAMO, A., PINTY, B., GOBRON, N., COOPS, N., MENDEZ, E.,
SCHAEPMAN, M. E. (2014): Intercomparison of fraction of absorbed
photosynthetically active radiation products derived from satellite data over
Europe, Remote Sensing of Environment, 142, 141-154.
• GLOBAL CLIMATE OBSERVING SYSTEM (GCOS) (2011): Systematic
observation requirements for satellite-based data products for climate.
• PUTZENLECHNER, B., MARZAHN, P., KIESE, R., LUDWIG, R., SANCHEZ-
AZOFEIFA, A. (2019): Assessing the variability and uncertainty of two-flux
FAPAR measurements in a conifer-dominated forest, Agricultural and Forest
Meteorology, 264, 149-163.
• WEISS, M., BARET, F. (2016): S2ToolBox Level 2 products: LAI, FAPAR,
FCOVER.
• WIDLOWSKI, J.-L. (2010): On the bias of instantaneous fAPAR estimates in
open-canopy forests, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 150, 1501-1522.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was supported by the Natural Science and Engineering Research
Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant Program, the Inter-American
Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) Collaborative Research Network
Program (CRN3-023), the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), and a
MICMoR Fellowship to B.P. through KIT/IMK-IFU (Garmisch-Partenkirchen,
Germany). The Helmholtz Association and the German Federal Ministry of
Education and Research (BMBF) in the framework of TERENO (Terrestrial
Environmental Observatories) (grant no. 01LL0801B) provided support also to
the German site.