Publication Date:
2018-09-06
Description:
Aerodynamic canopy height (h a ) is the effective height of vegetation canopy for its influence on atmospheric fluxes and is a key parameter of surface-atmosphere coupling. However, methods to estimate h a from data are limited. This synthesis evaluates the applicability and robustness of the calculation of h a from eddy covariance momentum-flux data. At 69 forest sites, annual h a robustly predicted site-to-site and year-to-year differences in canopy heights (R 2 = 0.88, 111 site-years). At 23 cropland/grassland sites, weekly h a successfully captured the dynamics of vegetation canopies over growing seasons (R 2 〉 0.70 in 74 site-years). Our results demonstrate the potential of flux-derived h a determination for tracking the seasonal, interannual, and/or decadal dynamics of vegetation canopies including growth, harvest, land use change, and disturbance. The large-scale and time-varying h a derived from flux networks worldwide provides a new benchmark for regional and global Earth system models and satellite remote sensing of canopy structure. ©2018. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
Print ISSN:
0094-8276
Electronic ISSN:
1944-8007
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
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