modeling of forest above-ground biomass and evapotranspiration dynamics

208 Pages·2015·15.07 MB·English

MODELING OF FOREST ABOVE-GROUND
BIOMASS AND EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
DYNAMICS

Xin Tian
Examining committee:
Prof.dr.ir. A. Veldkamp University of Twente
Prof.dr. A.K. Skidmore University of Twente
Prof.dr. H-J Hendricks Franssen Forschungszentrum Juelich
Prof. E. Chen Chinese Academy of Forestry
ITC dissertation number 270
ITC, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands
ISBN 978-90-365-3882-4
DOI 10.3990/1.9789036538824
Cover designed by Benno Masselink
Printed by ITC Printing Department
Copyright © 2015 by Xin Tian
MODELING OF FOREST ABOVE-GROUND
BIOMASS AND EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
DYNAMICS

DISSERTATION

to obtain
the degree of doctor at the University of Twente,
on the authority of the rector magnificus,
prof.dr. H. Brinksma
on account of the decision of the graduation committee,
to be publicly defended
on Thursday 23 April 2015 at 13.45 hrs

by

Xin Tian

born on 26/02/1979

in Tianzhu, Guizhou, P.R.China
This thesis is approved by
Prof.dr. Zhongbo Su, promotor
Prof.dr. Zengyuan Li, promotor
Dr.ir. Christiaan van der Tol, co-promotor
Dedicated to my late parents.

Acknowledgements
Sitting in my chair and viewing some homing birds in the sky at dusk, I was
reminded of the following verse: “I leave no trace of wings in the air, but I am glad
I have had my flight”, from Fireflies by Rabindranath Tagore (1928). I recently
realized that I must soon say “goodbye” to some of the people I know after
finalizing this thesis for my PHD work at ITC. To acknowledge the help I have
received from people who have faithfully supported me during my PHD study, here,
on this Thanksgiving Day, I express sincere thanks.

Ten years ago, I met Prof. Bob Su on the beautiful island of Gulangyu in Xiamen
City, China, during the kickoff symposium of the “Dragon Programme”, the largest
international cooperation platform for Earth observation between the Ministry of
Science and Technology (MOST) of the P.R.China and the European Space Agency
(ESA). I was impressed by his enthusiasm, his persistence in scientific interests, his
humor, and his humility during conversion. One year later, I met Prof. Su again, on
another island, Santorini in Greece, when I was still a symposium tea boy. After
discussions with Prof. Zengyuan Li, the supervisor of my Master’s work, Prof. Su
decided to provide a chance to me to study for my PHD at ITC.

First and foremost I offer my sincerest gratitude to my promoter Prof. Bob Su and
co-promoter Prof. Zengyuan Li, for their extraordinary support throughout my PHD
study and for their patience and knowledge whilst allowing me the room required to
work in my own way. They gave me the opportunity to undertake this study and
also extended my view of scientific research. Every time I was inundated by
“hydrology” or suspended in the “atmosphere”, Prof.Su knew how to draw me back
the right way. His deep insights into the scientific issues and his broad knowledge
of science directed me to undertake a study with scientific significance. As a result
of his invaluable guidance and advice, I am now finally finishing my PHD study.
Prof. Li has been tolerant to my mistakes and, since I joined his research team, has
inspired me to do my work (and my job) with scientific exactitude. He provided
much support during my work. The manner and attitude of both of my mentors
motivated me to be ingenuous and humble in life, as well as penetrating,
enthusiastic and serious in science. I attribute the skill of my doctoral degree to their
encouragement and efforts.

I feel indebted to my two co-promotors, Dr. Christiaan van der Tol and Prof. Xin Li.
Christiaan taught me much regarding eco-hydrological processes and helped clarify
my manuscripts and my thesis. From him, I was able to learn how to find scientific
gaps and then how to write scientific manuscripts. His elaborate and everlasting
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help and guidance made this study valuable. He is also a close friend of mine and
many fruitful discussions between the two of us improved my study. His office door
was always open without an advanced appointment. To him I am ever grateful.
Great appreciation is also given to Prof. Xin Li for his excellent organization of the
Watershed Allied Telemetry Experimental Research (WATER) experiment, which
provided the required data for running the models. Prof. Li eventually taught me
how to fish rather than just giving me a fish. He directed me in the types of studies
that had previously been undertaken and suggested studies for my work on the
Heihe River Basin (HRB). My study also benefited from his countless instruction
and support. He examined each manuscript I wrote and provided invaluable
suggestions for them. Our first email exchange often recurs to me; in the email I
asked for help with the study area and asked some scientific questions. Although he
did not know me at the time, he replied to me immediately with much kindness and
modesty.

I am deeply grateful to Prof. Erxue Chen at my institute (Research Institute of
Forest Resource Information Techniques (IFRIT), Chinese Academy of Forestry)
for patient and constructive suggestions and guidance during my study, as well as
during my job. His willingness to motivate me contributed tremendously to my
study and work. On several occasions, he even helped me with some of my daily
work at IFRIT so I would have time for this study.

Without their kind and scientific direction and instruction, this thesis would not
have been completed!

My study would also have been impossible without the support of the ITC and I
owe a great deal to various administrative departments including the education and
research affairs department, the financial and economic affairs department, the
library and archive service center, the ICT service center, and the reception and
international hotel of ITC for their timely and intense help. I also thank Ms. Loes
Colenbrander, Ms. Anke Koning and Ms. Tina Butt-Castro, who provided
administrative support for my study. Special thanks are given to Prof. Tom
Veldkamp (the Dean of ITC), Prof. Martien Molenaar, and other managers at ITC
who provided excellent research organization and management.

I also owe thanks to colleagues in water resource department (WRS) at ITC and at
IFRIT who shared interesting and meaningful talks and seminars. Special thanks are
given to the director, Prof. Hongbo Ju, and the deputy directors, Prof. Hong Wang
and Prof. Huiru Zhang of IFRIT, for allowing me to leave my job temporally for
studying abroad. Many thanks are given to colleagues, including Zhihai Gao, Lina
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Bai, Yong Pang, Shiming Li, Qingwang Liu, Fengyu Wang, Bingxiang Tan,
Honggan Wu, Ying Lu, Yingzhi Bao, Haisheng Xu, Dan Liu, Yaxin Wang, who
helped during my absence from IFRIT.

Colleagues in the Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research
Institute at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, particularly Prof. Mingguo Ma, Dr.
Xufeng Wang, Dr. Xiaoduo Pan, Dr. Shuguo Wang and Dr. Tangtang Zhang are
thanked for their hospitality and help during experiments, as well as for data and
models.

I owe gratitude to Mr. Guocheng Zhang, Dr. Xiaohan Liao, Dr. Jiahong Li, from the
National Remote Sensing Center of China (NRSCC), and Dr. Yves-Louis Desnos,
Dr. Andrew Zmuda, from European Space Research Institute (ESRIN), for their
efforts to the “Dragon Programme”, during which I was able to get to know Prof.
Su and next to study at ITC.

I am grateful to my football buddies at ITC, Donghai Zheng, Alain P. Frances,
Mustafa Gokmen and Cesar Cisneros Vaca, who let me enjoy an interesting life
with them in the Netherlands. In my daily life in the Netherlands, I have been
blessed with a friendly and cheerful Chinese community that is like a big family
and I never felt homesick. Special thanks go to Longhui Li, Guangyi Wang, Yijian
Zeng, Qiuju Zhang, Wei Ouyang, Xuelei Wang, Changbo Qin, Lei Zhong,
Zhenshan Yang, Xia Li, Teng Fei, Meng Bian, Shi Pu, and Xiaojing Wu for
hospitable receptions and their friendly compotation of beers, wines, and whiskies.
Special thanks are given to Xuelong Chen for timely help and conversations
regarding my thesis. I also owe appreciation to Tina Tian, Yanqiu Xing, Lichun
Wang, Guofeng Wu and Tiejun Wang who shared useful experiences regarding
study and life in the Netherlands. I thank my housemate Peng Wang for sharing
meals and his fantastic piano playing; and new alumni, Xiaoling Wang, Cunbo Han,
Xiaolong Yu, Xu Yuan, and Peiqi Yang for their accompaniment and help.

I am thankful to the Masters and PHD students at IFRIT, among them Min Yan,
Mei Li, Chunmei Li, Wenwu Fan, Qi Feng, and Lei Zhao, who assisted me in
conducting experiments, in data preparation, and in running models.

Finally, I feel deeply indebted to my late parents who passed away during the
period of my study. As the old Chinese saying goes, “Tree prefer calm while wind
not subside; Son choose filial while parents died”. I am deeply appreciative to my
senior brothers for taking care of my family during my stay in the Netherlands. I
also owe much to my wife, Dongying Fu, for accompanying me during the toughest
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period of my life. She has often had to bear the first brunt of my frustration against
the world with equanimity and love; but she has been never hesitated to fully
support my study and my work with encouragement and trust.

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