Title
Global Terrestrial Gross and Net Primary Productivity from the Earth Observing System
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Title
Methods in Ecosystem Science
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Publication Date
2000
Volume
Chapter 3
First Page
44
Last Page
57
Abstract
Probably the single most fundamental measure of “global change” of highest practical interest to humankind is the change in terrestrial biological productivity. Biological productivity is the source of all the food, fiber, and fuel by which humans survive, and so defines most fundamentally the habitability of Earth. The spatial variability of net primary productivity (NPP) over the globe is enormous, from about 1000 g Cm-2 for evergreen tropical rain forests to less than 30 g Cm-2 for deserts (Scurlock et al. 1999). With increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and global climate change, NPP over large areas may be changing (Myneni et al. 1997a, VEMAP 1995, Melillo et al. 1993). Understanding regional variability in carbon cycle processes requires a more spatially detailed analysis of global land surface processes. Since December 1999, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Observing System (EOS) produces a regular global estimate of (gross primary productivity, GPP) and annual NPP of the entire terrestrial earth surface at 1-km spatial resolution, 150 million cells, each having GPP and NPP computed individually.
DOI
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1224-9_4
Rights
© 2000 Springer-Verlag
Recommended Citation
Running, S. W., Thornton P. E., Nemani R. R., and Glassy J. Global Terrestrial Gross and Net Primary Productivity from the Earth Observing System. Methods in Ecosystem Science, O.E. Sala, R.B. Jackson, Mooney Howarth H. A. R. W. (eds.). New York: Springer, 2000, pp. 44-57.