Relationship between gross primary production and chlorophyll content in crops: Implications for the synoptic monitoring of vegetation productivity

Accurate estimation of spatially distributed CO₂ fluxes is of great importance for regional and global studies of carbon balance. We applied a recently developed technique for remote estimation of crop chlorophyll content to assess gross primary production (GPP). The technique is based on reflectance in two spectral channels: the near-infrared and either the green or the red-edge. We have found that in irrigated and rainfed crops (maize and soybean), midday GPP is closely related to total crop chlorophyll content. The technique provided accurate estimations of midday GPP in both crops under rainfed and irrigated conditions with root mean square error of GPP estimation of less than 0.3 mg CO₂/M²S in maize (GPP ranged from 0 to 3.1 mg CO₂/m²s) and less than 0.2 mg CO₂/m²s in soybean (GPP ranged from 0 to 1.8 mg CO₂/M²s). Validation using an independent data set for irrigated and rainfed maize showed robustness of the technique; RMSE of GPP prediction was less than 0.27 mg CO₂/m²s.