Reconstructed Solar‐Induced Fluorescence: A Machine Learning Vegetation Product Based on MODIS Surface Reflectance to Reproduce GOME‐2 Solar‐Induced Fluorescence

Solar‐induced fluorescence (SIF) observations from space have resulted in major advancements in estimating gross primary productivity (GPP). However, current SIF observations remain spatially coarse, infrequent, and noisy. Here we develop a machine learning approach using surface reflectances from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) channels to reproduce SIF normalized by clear sky surface irradiance from the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment‐2 (GOME‐2). The resulting product is a proxy for ecosystem photosynthetically active radiation absorbed by chlorophyll (fAPAR(Ch)). Multiplying this new product with a MODIS estimate of photosynthetically active radiation provides a new MODIS‐only reconstruction of SIF called Reconstructed SIF (RSIF). RSIF exhibits much higher seasonal and interannual correlation than the original SIF when compared with eddy covariance estimates of GPP and two reference global GPP products, especially in dry and cold regions. RSIF also reproduces intense productivity regions such as the U.S. Corn Belt contrary to typical vegetation indices and similarly to SIF.