Near-distance imaging spectroscopy investigating chlorophyll fluorescence and photosynthetic activity of grassland in the daily course

Detection of grassland canopy chlorophyll fluorescence (Chl-F) conducted with an imaging spectroradiometer provided evidence of potential remote sensing estimation of steady-state Chl-F (Chl-Fs). Daily near-nadir views of extremely high spatial resolution hyperspectral images were acquired from a distance of 4m for temperate montane grassland in the Czech Republic. Simultaneously, measurements of Chl-F and total chlorophyll content (Chl a+b) were made on a single leaf at ground level were collected. A specifically designed \u27shade removal\u27 experiment revealed the influence of dynamic physiological plant processes on hyperspectral reflectance of three wavelengths: 532, 686 and 740nm. Based on this information, the vegetation indexes R686/R630, R740/R800 and PRI calculated as (R532R570)/(R532+R 570) were tested for statistical significance with directly measured Chl-F parameters (maximum fluorescence yield, Fv/Fm; steady-state chlorophyll fluorescence, Chl-Fs and actual quantum yield, ΠII). The grassland species under investigation were: Festuca rubra agg. (L.), Hieracium sp., Plantago sp., Nardus stricta (L.) and Jacea pseudophrygia (C.A. Meyer). The coefficients of determination (R 2) for best-fit relationships between PRI-ΠII and PRI-Chl-Fs, measured in the daily course, show a high variability of 0.230.78 and 0.200.65, respectively. Similarly, R2 for the R 686/R630-ΠII and R686/R 630-Chl-Fs relationships varied between 0.200.73 and 0.410.70, respectively. The highest average R2 values were found between PRI and Chla+b (0.63) and R686/R630 and Chla+b (0.72). The ratio R740/R800 did not yield a statistically significant relation with Chl-F parameters