Chineseresearchersrevealhowvegetationstructurebiasessatelliteobservation_GuangmingOnlineBEIJING,Sept.22(Xinhua)--Vegetationisacrucialpartofterrestrialecosystemsandanimportantindicatorofclimatechange.AteamofChineseresearchershasreportedthatthestructuralcomplexityofvegetationmayinfluencesatellites'remotesensingmonitoring.Vegetationindices(VIs),derivedfromsatellitedata,arewidelyusedformonitoringterrestrialecosystemsandtrackingplantproperties,vegetationchanges,andenvironmentalstresses.ResearchersfromChinaAgriculturalUniversityfoundthatseveralmajorVIsfromsatelliteobservationovertheU.S.cornbeltarehigherthanthoseovertheAmazonrainforest,despitethelatterhavingmoreleafarea.Thecontradictingpatternunderscorestheneedtounderstandtheunderlyingdriversandtheirimpactstopreventmisinterpretations.Theresearchersattributedthediscrepancytodifferencesinstructuralcomplexity.TheyreportedinthejournalNatureEcologyEvolutionthatcomplexforeststructurescastmacroscaleshadows,resultinginlowerspectralgreennesscomparedtosimplercrops.ZengYelu,theleadauthoroftheresearch,explainedthatmostEarth-observingsatellitesdonotviewtheEarthinthesolardirection,andtheimpactofshadowsisinevitable.However,theshadedpartsalsocontributetothecarbon,water,andenergyoftheentirevegetation.Ignoringthecomplexityofvegetationstructuremayleadtouncertaintyinassessingvegetationchangeandgrowthtrends,hinderingaccuratequantificationofregionalandglobalcarbonsinks.TheysuggestedthatitcouldbebeneficialtoadjustandmakecorrectionstotheVIsobservedbysatellites.Theresearcherssaidthatthestudybroughtnewinsightsintotheremotesensingmonitoringofvegetationgreenness,deepenedunderstandingofthecharacteristicsofremotesensingdata,andprovidedascientificbasisforfutureresearchonvegetationandclimatechange.Editor:DisclaimerTheviewsandopinionsexpressedinthisarticlearethoseoftheauthor's,GMW.cnmakesnorepresentationsastoaccuracy,suitability,orvalidityofanyinformationonthissiteandwillnotbeliableforanyerrors,omissions,ordelaysinthisinformation.