Remote Sens. 2015, 7, 3878-3906; doi:10.3390/rs70403878 OPEN ACCESS remote sensing ISSN 2072-4292 www.mdpi.com/journal/remotesensing Article Comparing MODIS Net Primary Production Estimates with Terrestrial National Forest Inventory Data in Austria Mathias Neumann 1,*, Maosheng Zhao 2, Georg Kindermann 3 and Hubert Hasenauer 1 1 Institute of Silviculture, Department of Forest and Soil Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Peter-Jordan-Str. 82, A-1190 Vienna, Austria; E-Mail:
[email protected] 2 Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA; E-Mail:
[email protected] 3 Natural Hazards and Landscape, Department of Forest Growth and Silviculture, Federal Research and Training Centre for Forests, Vienna, Seckendorff-Gudent-Weg 8, A-1130 Vienna, Austria; E-Mail:
[email protected] * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail:
[email protected]; Tel.: +43-1-47654-4078; Fax: +43-1-47654-4092. Academic Editors: Randolph H. Wynne and Prasad S. Thenkabail Received: 11 December 2014 / Accepted: 17 March 2015 / Published: 1 April 2015 Abstract: The mission of this study is to compare Net Primary Productivity (NPP) estimates using (i) forest inventory data and (ii) spatio-temporally continuous MODIS (MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) remote sensing data for Austria. While forest inventories assess the change in forest growth based on repeated individual tree measurements (DBH, height etc.), the MODIS NPP estimates are based on ecophysiological processes such as photosynthesis, respiration and carbon allocation. We obtained repeated national forest inventory data from Austria, calculated a “ground-based” NPP estimate and compared the results with “space-based” MODIS NPP estimates using different daily climate data.