Water and carbon flux responses to soil moisture pulses in the Western United States

In this study, the relationships among plant water and carbon flux responses to soil moisture resource pulses in semi-arid lands of the Western United States were diagnosed. Measurements from twelve AmeriFlux tower (in situ) and SMAP (satellite) sites across the region were used to estimate relationships between carbon flux and resource availability. The differences between respiration and photosynthesis dominant regimes and the transition from water to energy limited regimes could be observed. Water use efficiency of plants in the regions was estimated to be around 5.0 grams of carbon dioxide per 1 kilograms of water when water was excess. Response patterns were shared among the similar ecosystems. The role of water and carbon flux response to intermittency resource availability could lead to improved estimation of land carbon budgets.

Name thesis:degree_name

Bachelor

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Chulakadabba, Apisada.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Dara Entekhabi.

• Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/122233

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/122233