Impacts of different radiometric calibration methods on the retrievals of sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence and its relation to productivity for continuous field measurements

Sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF), now observed from space on a global scale, has been shown to be a powerful proxy for photosynthetic activity. Long-term in situ field canopy SIF measurements are improving, enabling better understanding of SIF signal and support to satellite missions. Since SIF retrievals rely on the absolute irradiance radiance measurements, accurate outdoor radiometric calibration is necessary to provide accurate radiance data, especially for long-term continuous measurements on forest stands. However, standard laboratory calibration methods are not practical to be performed for outdoor long-term measurements, and several in-field alternative methods are generally used, which may result in some uncertainties. Here we evaluate the effects of different radiometric calibration methods on SIF retrievals and its relation with gross primary productivity (GPP) at the canopy level. Three widely used methods are used, i.e., well-established laboratory methods with integrating sphere, laboratory-calibrated reference spectrometer (ASD FieldSpec Pro), and a light calibration source with a white reference panel. Our results indicate that different radiometric calibrations have marginal effects on vegetation indices but have significant effects on the SIF absolute value, and have slight effects on diurnal and seasonal patterns of SIF. Moreover, the relationships between GPP and SIF retrieved using different calibration coefficients are similar at both diurnal and seasonal scales, but with different regression slopes. Therefore, we recommend that a standard laboratory radiometric calibration is conducted using an integrating sphere before installation in the field and a regular in-field calibration with a well-calibrated spectrometer and white reference, especially for long-term observation above a forest canopy. Our findings have strong implications for the ongoing and future ground canopy SIF measurements and suggest the need for a consistent radiometric calibration method, especially for cross-site comparison studies. (C) 2019 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)