Observing and Modeling the Seasonal Profile of Leaf Area for a Mid-western No-till Corn/Soybean Ecosystem.
Abstract
I mproving our confidence to generate actionable seasonal predictions of water resources over the U.S. will largely hinge our ability to understand and predict the feedbacks and response of the land surface. This is especially during the growing seasons in the Mid-western U.S. in which the landcover consists of over 70% of row crops (corn, soybean). The seasonal growth cycle of these row crops and the impact on regional water, heat and carbon budgets can largely be captured by examining the leaf area index of these row crops, which typically have a very characteristic seasonal profiles. Since 1996, as a contribution to Ameriflux, we have operated a research flux tower in central Illinois in which various crop physiological measurements (as well as eddy covariance and other supporting data) have been obtained. The tower is located on a privately owned farm that uses minimal tillage practices and rotates from corn to soybeans each year. The tower is located 10 km from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. We will present various methodologies that utilize in situ observations, remote sensing, destructive sampling, cameras and crop phenology models to assess the seasonal cycle of leaf area for corn and soybeans. Recommendations will be provided on the basic observations that are necessary to capture the leaf area seasonal cycle. The over 22 years of data will also be used to assess the annual and seasonal variability of leaf area. The impact of the magnitude of leaf area will also be used to assess the effect on the seasonal cycle of soil evaporation, the surface energy balance including the soil heat flux, soil temperatures, and the seasonal distribution of net ecosystem exchange (NEE).
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFM.B53P2633M
- Keywords:
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- 0414 Biogeochemical cycles;
- processes;
- and modeling;
- BIOGEOSCIENCES;
- 0426 Biosphere/atmosphere interactions;
- BIOGEOSCIENCES;
- 0439 Ecosystems;
- structure and dynamics;
- BIOGEOSCIENCES;
- 0476 Plant ecology;
- BIOGEOSCIENCES