Comparison of net ecosystem carbon exchange estimation in a mixed temperate forest using field eddy covariance and MODIS data

Quantification of net ecosystem carbon exchange (NEE) between the atmosphere and vegetation is of great importance for regional and global studies of carbon balance. The eddy covariance technique can quantify carbon budgets and the effects of environmental controls for many forest types across the continent but it only provides integrated CO(2) flux measurements within tower footprints and need to be scaled up to large areas in combination with remote sensing observations. In this study we compare a multiple-linear regression (MR) model which relates enhanced vegetation index and land surface temperature derived from the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS), and photosynthetically active radiation with the site-level NEE, for estimating carbon flux exchange between the ecosystem and the environment at the deciduous-dominated Harvard Forest to three other methods proposed in the literature. Six years (2001–2006) of eddy covariance and MODIS data are used and results show that the MR model has the best performance for both training (2001–2004, R(2) = 0.84, RMSE = 1.33 g Cm(−2) day(−1)) and validation (2005–2006, R(2) = 0.76, RMSE = 1.54 g Cm(−2) day(−1)) datasets comparing to the other ones. It provides the potential to estimate carbon flux exchange across different ecosystems at various time intervals for scaling up plot-level NEE of CO(2) to large spatial areas.