Modeling Canopy Water Content for Carbon Estimates from MODIS data at Land EOS Validation Sites

This paper reports on progress made to improve our understanding of the biophysical and ecological processes governing the linked exchanges of water, energy, carbon and trace gases between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere by improving satellite data products for models. The project aims to tests new biophysical data products from MODIS and ASTER EOS sensors and incorporates them into the SiB2 and CASA models. Traditional carbon estimates of such models use NDVI satellite data as inputs, although it is known that NDVI saturates at high LAI values. Radiative transfer models PROSPECT, SAILH and SPRINT were used to study a water-based optical index from MODIS as a measure of canopy water content that potentially improve estimates of LAI, specifically for ecosystems having high LAI (>4). This study shows the validity of the new data product and the potential extent of model improvements for biospheric and atmospheric processes. Validation of the models and the data products is conducted at EOS core land validation sites part of AmeriFlux.