Relationship of surface soil moisture with solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence and normalized difference vegetation index in different phenological stages: a case study of Northeast China

Abstract

Solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) is closely related to vegetation photosynthesis, and is considered as a direct and non-invasive indicator of the functional status of photosynthetic machinery; the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) can also reflect photosynthetic characteristics. Both are related to surface soil moisture (SSM), which is susceptible to drought, and phenology plays an important role in these vegetation-moisture relationships. Based on a variety of gridded SIF, NDVI, and SSM datasets obtained from satellite sensors, we presented the detailed relationships of SSM with SIF and NDVI in different phenological stages. Results showed that SIF and NDVI were significantly correlated with SSM in different phenological stages, especially during the maturity and senescence stages. For different vegetation types, SIF was more sensitive than NDVI to SSM anomalies in grasslands and forests during the maturity stage and rainfed croplands during the senescence stage. These relationships were regulated by precipitation and mean temperature, and decreased precipitation had the most significant impact when accompanied by increased temperature during the maturity stage or decreased temperature during the senescence stage. Our findings shed light on the role that phenology has in the relationships of SSM with SIF and NDVI on a large scale, which can further improve the understanding of vegetation-moisture relationships.

Keywords

• surface soil moisture
• solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence
• vegetation index
• phenology