UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE SATELLITE-BASED CHARACTERIZATION OF CROP TYPE AND PRODUCTIVITY OF AGROECOSYSTEMS: CASE STUDIES IN NORTHEAST CHINA, SOUTHERN AFRICA, AND CONTERMINOUS USA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By CUI JIN Norman, Oklahoma 2016 SATELLITE-BASED CHARACTERIZATION OF CROP TYPE AND PRODUCTIVITY OF AGROECOSYSTEMS: CASE STUDIES IN NORTHEAST CHINA, SOUTHERN AFRICA, AND CONTERMINOUS USA A DISSERTATION APPROVED FOR THE GRADUATE COLLEGE BY ______________________________ Dr. Xiangming Xiao, Chair ______________________________ Dr. Jeffrey Basara ______________________________ Dr. Jinwei Dong ______________________________ Dr. Jean Steiner ______________________________ Dr. Heather McCarthy © Copyright by CUI JIN 2016 All Rights Reserved. This dissertation is dedicated to my husband Dr. Yu Wang, to my parents, and to my parents-in-law, for their unconditional love and support. Acknowledgements I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Prof. Xiangming Xiao for his excellent guidance, caring, patience, and support during last five years of my Ph.D. study. I have been so fortunate to have an advisor who gave me the freedom to explore scientific questions. Without his supports, I couldn’t have overcome so many difficult situations and finished my dissertation. In one day, I hope I would become as a good advisor as Dr. Xiao does. I would also like to thank other members of my advisory committee, Prof. Jinwei Dong, Prof. Jean Steiner, Prof. Heather McCarty, and Prof. Jeffrey Basara, for all advices through the development of my dissertation research. I extend my heartfelt thanks to all members of Prof. Xiao’s lab, Prof. Jinwei Dong, Dr. Geli Zhang, Dr. Yuanwei Qin, Dr. Pradeep Wagle, Yuting Zhou, Jie Wang, Yao Zhang, Rajen Bajgain, and my friends Xuecheng Chen and Xiaodi Yu. Their friendship is my truly life treasure. We, like a big family, support and take care of each other. I wish to express my thanks to my dear husband, Dr. Yu Wang. I could never have accomplished this dissertation without his love, support, and understanding. I am extremely grateful to my father Zhaoyi Jin, and my mother Fengying Zhang, who raised me and taught me to study hard and to give priority in my life to the quest for knowledge. Last but certainly not least, I gratefully acknowledge research grants that made my Ph.D. work possible. I could not have gone through the doctoral program overseas without the financial support. I would like to express my full appreciation to the staffs of the Center for Spatial Analysis, especially Ms. Melissa Scott, and Ms. Leah Nash for their assistance. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... iv List of Tables .................................................................................................................... x List of Figures ................................................................................................................. xii Abstract ........................................................................................................................... xx Chapter 1: Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research background ............................................................................................ 1 1.2 Overall research objectives ................................................................................... 4 1.3 Organization of the dissertation ............................................................................ 4 1.4 List of Publications from the Dissertation ............................................................ 5 Chapter 2: Mapping paddy rice distribution using multi-temporal Landsat imagery in the Sanjiang Plain, northeast China ...................................................................... 7 Abstract ....................................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Materials and methods ........................................................................................ 10 2.2.1 Study area .................................................................................................. 10 2.2.2 Landsat images and preprocessing ............................................................ 13 2.2.3 Algorithm for mapping paddy rice during the flooding/transplanting phase ................................................................................................................ 15 2.2.4 Algorithm for mapping paddy rice during the ripening phase .................. 16 2.2.5 Implementation of algorithms ................................................................... 19 2.2.6 Validation of the Landsat-based paddy rice map of the Sanjiang Plain .... 20 2.2.7 Comparison with other paddy rice datasets ............................................... 21 v 2.3 Results ................................................................................................................ 22 2.3.1 Maps of the flooding/transplanting phase of paddy rice ........................... 22 2.3.2 Maps of the ripening phase of paddy rice ................................................. 24 2.3.3 Paddy rice map of the Sanjiang Plain and accuracy assessment ............... 25 2.3.4 A comparison of the Landsat paddy rice map with the other paddy rice area estimate datasets ............................................................................. 26 2.4 Discussion ........................................................................................................... 28 2.5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 31 Chapter 3: Phenology and gross primary production of two dominant savanna woodland ecosystems in Southern Africa ........................................................................... 33 Abstract ..................................................................................................................... 33 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 34 3.2 Materials and methods ........................................................................................ 37 3.2.1 Study sites .................................................................................................. 37 3.2.2 Site-specific meteorological data and CO2 flux data ................................. 38 3.2.3 MODIS land surface reflectance, vegetation indices, and MODIS GPP products .................................................................................................. 41 3.2.4 The Vegetation Photosynthesis Model (VPM) .......................................... 44 3.3 Results ................................................................................................................ 46 3.3.1 Land surface phenology as delineated by CO2 flux data and vegetation indices ..................................................................................................... 46 3.3.2 Quantitative relationships between vegetation indices and GPPEC ........... 48 vi 3.3.3 Seasonal dynamics of GPP from the Vegetation Photosynthesis Model (GPPVPM) ................................................................................................ 50 3.4 Discussion ........................................................................................................... 53 3.5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 60 Chapter 4: Effects of in-situ and reanalysis climate data on estimation of cropland gross primary production using the Vegetation Photosynthesis Model ....................... 61 Abstract ..................................................................................................................... 61 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 62 4.2 Data and methods ............................................................................................... 65 4.2.1 NARR ........................................................................................................ 65 4.2.2 MODIS land surface reflectance, vegetation indices products ................. 65 4.2.3 In-situ meteorological observations and CO2 flux data ............................. 66 4.2.4 The Vegetation Photosynthesis Model (VPM) .......................................... 69 4.2.5 Statistical analysis ..................................................................................... 70 4.3 Results ................................................................................................................ 71 4.3.1 Comparison of air temperature .................................................................. 71 4.3.2 Comparison of downward shortwave radiation ......................................... 75 4.3.3 Comparison of VPM-based (GPPVPM) and the flux tower-based (GPPEC) estimates ................................................................................................. 78 4.4 Discussion ..........................................................................................................