Estimating Diurnal Courses of Gross Primary Production for Maize: A Comparison of Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence, Light-Use Efficiency and Process-Based Models

Accurately quantifying gross primary production (GPP) is of vital importance to understanding the global carbon cycle. Light-use efficiency (LUE) models and process-based models have been widely used to estimate GPP at different spatial and temporal scales. However, large uncertainties remain in quantifying GPP, especially for croplands. Recently, remote measurements of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) have provided a new perspective to assess actual levels of plant photosynthesis. In the presented study, we evaluated the performance of three approaches, including the LUE-based multi-source data synergized quantitative (MuSyQ) GPP algorithm, the process-based boreal ecosystem productivity simulator (BEPS) model, and the SIF-based statistical model, in estimating the diurnal courses of GPP at a maize site in Zhangye, China. A field campaign was conducted to acquire synchronous far-red SIF (SIF760) observations and flux tower-based GPP measurements. Our results showed that both SIF760 and GPP were linearly correlated with APAR, and the SIF760-GPP relationship was adequately characterized using a linear function. The evaluation of the modeled GPP against the GPP measured from the tower demonstrated that all three approaches provided reasonable estimates, with R2 values of 0.702, 0.867, and 0.667 and RMSE values of 0.247, 0.153, and 0.236 mg m−2 s−1 for the MuSyQ-GPP, BEPS and SIF models, respectively. This study indicated that the BEPS model simulated the GPP best due to its efficiency in describing the underlying physiological processes of sunlit and shaded leaves. The MuSyQ-GPP model was limited by its simplification of some critical ecological processes and its weakness in characterizing the contribution of shaded leaves. The SIF760-based model demonstrated a relatively limited accuracy but showed its potential in modeling GPP without dependency on climate inputs in short-term studies.