Seasonal dynamics of albedo across European boreal forests: Analysis of MODIS albedo and structural metrics from airborne LiDAR

Aarne Hovi; Eva Lindberg; Mait Lang; Tauri Arumäe; Jussi Peuhkurinen; Sanna Sirparanta; Sergey Pyankov; Miina Rautiainen

doi:10.1016/j.rse.2019.02.001

Seasonal dynamics of albedo across European boreal forests: Analysis of MODIS albedo and structural metrics from airborne LiDAR

Aarne Hovi^*
, Eva Lindberg
, Mait Lang
, Tauri Arumäe
, Jussi Peuhkurinen
, Sanna Sirparanta
, Sergey Pyankov
, Miina Rautiainen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Not published at VTT

Aalto University
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Estonian University of Life Sciences
University of Tartu
State Forest Management Centre (RMK)
Arbonaut Ltd
Perm State National Research University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

33 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Uncertainties in estimation of albedo-related radiative forcing cause ambiguity in evaluation of net climate effects of forests and forest management. Numerous studies have reported local relations between forest structure and albedo in the boreal zone. However, more research is needed to establish these relations for geographically extensive areas, and to examine seasonal courses of albedo to understand the effects of forest structure on mean annual shortwave energy balance. Remote sensing is a viable option for accomplishing these goals, but there are many challenges related to e.g. long periods of cloud cover and low solar elevations in high latitudes. We used the new MODIS Collection 6 (MCD43A3) daily albedo product, and analyzed MODIS albedo dependence on airborne LiDAR-based forest structure in 22 study sites in Estonia, Finland, Sweden, and Russia (57°–69° N, 12°–57° E). Wall-to-wall LiDAR data allowed us to take into account the effective spatial resolution of MODIS, which notably improved correlations between albedo and forest structure. Use of the best quality backup algorithm (magnitude inversion) together with main algorithm results in the MODIS albedo product did not reduce the correlations compared to using main algorithm only. We quantified the effects of landscape-level forest structure (forest height, canopy cover, fraction of young forest) and fraction of broadleaved deciduous forest on mean annual albedo. We showed that because the forest structure-albedo relations are the strongest in snow-covered periods, and because the snow-covered period is longest in the north, the effect of forest structure on mean annual albedo increases towards the north. On the other hand, the effect of broadleaved fraction did not show such latitudinal trend. Our results indicate that even within a single climatic zone the optimal forest management solution to mitigate climate change depends on geographic location.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	365-381
Number of pages	17
Journal	Remote Sensing of Environment
Volume	224
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2019.02.001
Publication status	Published - Apr 2019
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

This study was mainly funded by Academy of Finland (Grant nr 13286390 ). This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 771049 ). LiDAR measurements in Estonian test sites were carried out by the Estonian Land Board. Data acquisition for the Aegviidu and Laeva test sites was financed by Estonian State Forest Management Centre. The acquisition of LiDAR data in the Russian site was financed by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Perm region in the framework of “International Research Groups” and its research project “Development of the Automated Technologies of Forest Inventory based on Satellite Imagery and Airborne Laser Scanning”. Participants of the international research group thank the Government of Perm Region for their support. We acknowledge Eduardo Gonzalez for help in processing LiDAR data and Alain Minguet for communication with the Russian collaborators.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production
SDG 15 Life on Land

Keywords

Albedo
Boreal forests
Forest management
MODIS
Seasonality

Access to Document

10.1016/j.rse.2019.02.001

Cite this

@article{acfe4d4a3048445e9323c1818da393ee,

title = "Seasonal dynamics of albedo across European boreal forests: Analysis of MODIS albedo and structural metrics from airborne LiDAR",

abstract = "Uncertainties in estimation of albedo-related radiative forcing cause ambiguity in evaluation of net climate effects of forests and forest management. Numerous studies have reported local relations between forest structure and albedo in the boreal zone. However, more research is needed to establish these relations for geographically extensive areas, and to examine seasonal courses of albedo to understand the effects of forest structure on mean annual shortwave energy balance. Remote sensing is a viable option for accomplishing these goals, but there are many challenges related to e.g. long periods of cloud cover and low solar elevations in high latitudes. We used the new MODIS Collection 6 (MCD43A3) daily albedo product, and analyzed MODIS albedo dependence on airborne LiDAR-based forest structure in 22 study sites in Estonia, Finland, Sweden, and Russia (57°–69° N, 12°–57° E). Wall-to-wall LiDAR data allowed us to take into account the effective spatial resolution of MODIS, which notably improved correlations between albedo and forest structure. Use of the best quality backup algorithm (magnitude inversion) together with main algorithm results in the MODIS albedo product did not reduce the correlations compared to using main algorithm only. We quantified the effects of landscape-level forest structure (forest height, canopy cover, fraction of young forest) and fraction of broadleaved deciduous forest on mean annual albedo. We showed that because the forest structure-albedo relations are the strongest in snow-covered periods, and because the snow-covered period is longest in the north, the effect of forest structure on mean annual albedo increases towards the north. On the other hand, the effect of broadleaved fraction did not show such latitudinal trend. Our results indicate that even within a single climatic zone the optimal forest management solution to mitigate climate change depends on geographic location.",

keywords = "Albedo, Boreal forests, Forest management, MODIS, Seasonality",

author = "Aarne Hovi and Eva Lindberg and Mait Lang and Tauri Arum{\"a}e and Jussi Peuhkurinen and Sanna Sirparanta and Sergey Pyankov and Miina Rautiainen",

note = "Funding Information: This study was mainly funded by Academy of Finland (Grant nr 13286390 ). This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 771049 ). LiDAR measurements in Estonian test sites were carried out by the Estonian Land Board. Data acquisition for the Aegviidu and Laeva test sites was financed by Estonian State Forest Management Centre. The acquisition of LiDAR data in the Russian site was financed by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Perm region in the framework of “International Research Groups” and its research project “Development of the Automated Technologies of Forest Inventory based on Satellite Imagery and Airborne Laser Scanning”. Participants of the international research group thank the Government of Perm Region for their support. We acknowledge Eduardo Gonzalez for help in processing LiDAR data and Alain Minguet for communication with the Russian collaborators. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 The Authors",

year = "2019",

month = apr,

doi = "10.1016/j.rse.2019.02.001",

language = "English",

volume = "224",

pages = "365--381",

journal = "Remote Sensing of Environment",

issn = "0034-4257",

publisher = "Elsevier",

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T1 - Seasonal dynamics of albedo across European boreal forests

T2 - Analysis of MODIS albedo and structural metrics from airborne LiDAR

AU - Hovi, Aarne

AU - Lindberg, Eva

AU - Lang, Mait

AU - Arumäe, Tauri

AU - Peuhkurinen, Jussi

AU - Sirparanta, Sanna

AU - Pyankov, Sergey

AU - Rautiainen, Miina

N1 - Funding Information: This study was mainly funded by Academy of Finland (Grant nr 13286390 ). This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 771049 ). LiDAR measurements in Estonian test sites were carried out by the Estonian Land Board. Data acquisition for the Aegviidu and Laeva test sites was financed by Estonian State Forest Management Centre. The acquisition of LiDAR data in the Russian site was financed by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Perm region in the framework of “International Research Groups” and its research project “Development of the Automated Technologies of Forest Inventory based on Satellite Imagery and Airborne Laser Scanning”. Participants of the international research group thank the Government of Perm Region for their support. We acknowledge Eduardo Gonzalez for help in processing LiDAR data and Alain Minguet for communication with the Russian collaborators. Publisher Copyright: © 2019 The Authors

PY - 2019/4

Y1 - 2019/4

N2 - Uncertainties in estimation of albedo-related radiative forcing cause ambiguity in evaluation of net climate effects of forests and forest management. Numerous studies have reported local relations between forest structure and albedo in the boreal zone. However, more research is needed to establish these relations for geographically extensive areas, and to examine seasonal courses of albedo to understand the effects of forest structure on mean annual shortwave energy balance. Remote sensing is a viable option for accomplishing these goals, but there are many challenges related to e.g. long periods of cloud cover and low solar elevations in high latitudes. We used the new MODIS Collection 6 (MCD43A3) daily albedo product, and analyzed MODIS albedo dependence on airborne LiDAR-based forest structure in 22 study sites in Estonia, Finland, Sweden, and Russia (57°–69° N, 12°–57° E). Wall-to-wall LiDAR data allowed us to take into account the effective spatial resolution of MODIS, which notably improved correlations between albedo and forest structure. Use of the best quality backup algorithm (magnitude inversion) together with main algorithm results in the MODIS albedo product did not reduce the correlations compared to using main algorithm only. We quantified the effects of landscape-level forest structure (forest height, canopy cover, fraction of young forest) and fraction of broadleaved deciduous forest on mean annual albedo. We showed that because the forest structure-albedo relations are the strongest in snow-covered periods, and because the snow-covered period is longest in the north, the effect of forest structure on mean annual albedo increases towards the north. On the other hand, the effect of broadleaved fraction did not show such latitudinal trend. Our results indicate that even within a single climatic zone the optimal forest management solution to mitigate climate change depends on geographic location.

AB - Uncertainties in estimation of albedo-related radiative forcing cause ambiguity in evaluation of net climate effects of forests and forest management. Numerous studies have reported local relations between forest structure and albedo in the boreal zone. However, more research is needed to establish these relations for geographically extensive areas, and to examine seasonal courses of albedo to understand the effects of forest structure on mean annual shortwave energy balance. Remote sensing is a viable option for accomplishing these goals, but there are many challenges related to e.g. long periods of cloud cover and low solar elevations in high latitudes. We used the new MODIS Collection 6 (MCD43A3) daily albedo product, and analyzed MODIS albedo dependence on airborne LiDAR-based forest structure in 22 study sites in Estonia, Finland, Sweden, and Russia (57°–69° N, 12°–57° E). Wall-to-wall LiDAR data allowed us to take into account the effective spatial resolution of MODIS, which notably improved correlations between albedo and forest structure. Use of the best quality backup algorithm (magnitude inversion) together with main algorithm results in the MODIS albedo product did not reduce the correlations compared to using main algorithm only. We quantified the effects of landscape-level forest structure (forest height, canopy cover, fraction of young forest) and fraction of broadleaved deciduous forest on mean annual albedo. We showed that because the forest structure-albedo relations are the strongest in snow-covered periods, and because the snow-covered period is longest in the north, the effect of forest structure on mean annual albedo increases towards the north. On the other hand, the effect of broadleaved fraction did not show such latitudinal trend. Our results indicate that even within a single climatic zone the optimal forest management solution to mitigate climate change depends on geographic location.

KW - Albedo

KW - Boreal forests

KW - Forest management

KW - MODIS

KW - Seasonality

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85061867331

U2 - 10.1016/j.rse.2019.02.001

DO - 10.1016/j.rse.2019.02.001

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85061867331

SN - 0034-4257

VL - 224

SP - 365

EP - 381

JO - Remote Sensing of Environment

JF - Remote Sensing of Environment

ER -

Seasonal dynamics of albedo across European boreal forests: Analysis of MODIS albedo and structural metrics from airborne LiDAR

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

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