image: Researchers install a spectrometer on the top of a 26-meter tower in Niwot Ridge, Colo. The spectrometer is used to make continuous measurements of the fluorescent 'glow' from forests. view more
Credit: Image courtesy of Christian Frankenberg.
Researchers report that chlorophyll fluorescence emission, a faint glow from plants that can be seen by orbiting satellites, closely tracks photosynthesis of an evergreen forest, which is difficult to directly measure at large scales, suggesting that satellite-based fluorescence measurements may be used to track long-term variation in global forest health.
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Article #19-00278: "Mechanistic evidence for tracking the seasonality of photosynthesis with solar-induced fluorescence," by Troy Sehlin Magney et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Troy Sehlin Magney, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA; tel: 612-227-7117; e-mail: <Troy.S.Magney@jpl.nasa.gov>
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences