PIK-NPP Analysis

Global net primary production (NPP) of terrestrial ecosystems is an important quantitative characteristic of the biosphere. NPP integrates the greatest annual carbon flux from the atmosphere to the biosphere and is considered to be the main cause of seasonal fluctuations in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. In addition, NPP estimates can be used to measure crop yield and forest production.

The Second NPP Model Intercomparison Workshop was held at Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Potsdam, Germany in June 1995. The purpose of the meeting was to compare models simulating terrestrial NPP and their outputs at the global scale. Sixteen modeling teams presented their models and NPP model outputs for analysis. The scientific sponsorship of this workshop was jointly provided by IGBP_DIS, GAIM and GCTE.

The following images represent:

Water balance coefficient (WBC). WBC was employed to test the hypothesis stating that the water availability is the primary driver of NPP across the models. Difference between annual average precipitation and potential evapotranspiration (PREC-PET) was used to calculate WBC.

Climate space of structural vegetation classes, as they defined for BIOME-BGC vegetation classification.

Annual average NPP. This image represents the result of averaging the NPP outputs of 16 models at the global scale.

Areas of dominant environmental controls on NPP. Water availability (WBC) and annual average temperature were used to determine these areas.



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