Estimating photosynthetic capacity from leaf reflectance and Chl fluorescence by coupling radiative transfer to a model for photosynthesis

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Abstract

In photosynthesis models following the Farquhar formulation, the maximum carboxylation rate Vcmax is the key parameter. Remote-sensing indicators, such as reflectance ρ and Chl fluorescence (ChlF), have been proven as valuable estimators of photosynthetic capacity and can be used as a constraint to Vcmax estimation. We present a methodology to retrieve Vcmax from leaf ρ and ChlF by coupling a radiative transfer model, Fluspect, to a model for photosynthesis. We test its performance against a unique dataset, with combined leaf spectral, gas exchange and pulse-amplitude-modulated measurements. Our results show that the method can estimate the magnitude of Vcmax estimated from the far-red peak of ChlF and green ρ or transmittance τ, with values of root-mean-square error below 10 μmol CO2 m−2 s−1. At the leaf level, the method could be used for detection of plant stress and tested against more extensive datasets. With a similar scheme devised for the higher spatial scales, such models could provide a comprehensive method to estimate the actual photosynthetic capacity of vegetation.

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Vilfan, N., van der Tol, C., & Verhoef, W. (2019). Estimating photosynthetic capacity from leaf reflectance and Chl fluorescence by coupling radiative transfer to a model for photosynthesis. New Phytologist, 223(1), 487–500. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.15782

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