MODIS-derived terrestrial primary production [chapter 28]

Abstract

Temporal and spatial changes in terrestrial biological productivity have a large impact on humankind because terrestrial ecosystems not only create environments suitable for human habitation, but also provide materials essential for survival, such as food, fiber and fuel. A recent study estimated that consumption of terrestrial net primary production (NPP; a list of all the acronyms is available in the appendix at the end of the chapter) by the human population accounts for about 14-26% of global NPP (Imhoff et al. 2004). Rapid global climate change is induced by increased atmospheric greenhouse gas concentration, especially CO2 , which results from human activities such as fossil fuel combustion and deforestation. This directly impacts terrestrial NPP, which continues to change in both space and time (Melillo et al. 1993; Prentice et al. 2001; Nemani et al. 2003), and ultimately impacts the well-being of human society (Milesi et al. 2005). Additionally, substantial evidence show that the oceans and the biosphere, especially terrestrial ecosystems, currently play a major role in reducing the rate of the atmospheric CO2 increase (Prentice et al. 2001; Schimel et al. 2001).

Citation

Zhao, Maosheng; Running, Steven; Heinsch, Faith Ann; Nemani, Ramakrishna. 2011. MODIS-derived terrestrial primary production [chapter 28]. In: Ramachandran, Bhaskar; Justice, Christopher O.; Abrams, Michael J., eds. Land Remote Sensing and Global Environmental Change: NASA's Earth Observing System and the Science of ASTER and MODIS. Remote Sensing and Digital Image Processing, vol. 11. Springer: 635-660.