Estimation of potential GHG emissions from net primary productivity of forests — a satellite based approach

Abstract

Solar radiation in the wavelength interval between 400 and 700 nm provides the energy for photosynthesis and this information can be used for estimating Net Primary Productivity of plants. In the present study, AVHRR coarse resolution satellite data has been used for estimating NPP and thereby potential Green House Gas (GHG) emissions by integrating satellite and ground based measurements. NPP of forests has been calculated from annual sum of daily photosynthetic absorbed radiation and the radiation use efficiency of different plant species. Fraction of absorbed photosynthetic radiation for the deciduous ecosystem has been computed from monthly AVHRR NDVI composite values and using the AVHRR simple ratio. Results of the study suggested potential productivity of 5.81 t/ha/yr from satellite data, when compared to actual productivity values of 5.4 t/ha/yr from girth measurements. Potential GHG emissions estimated using the NPP value, aerial to total NPP ratio, above ground biomass, burning efficiency, and emission factors from ground measurements suggested total emissions of 2.8 × 10 11 , 2.1 × 10 10 , 2.7 × 10 9 , 9.8 × 10 8 and 2.0 × 10 7 gms for CO 2 , CO, CH 4 , NO x and N 2 O respectively for the study area.