Assessing seasonality of biochemical CO₂ exchange model parameters from micrometeorological flux observations at boreal coniferous forest

Abstract. The seasonality of the NEE of the northern boreal coniferous forests was investigated by means of inversion modelling using eddy covariance data. Eddy covariance data was used to optimize the biochemical model parameters. Our study sites consisted of three Scots pine (l. Pinus sylvestris) forests and one Norway spruce (l. Picea abies) forest that were located in Finland and Sweden. We obtained temperature and seasonal dependence for the biochemical model parameters: the maximum rate of carboxylation (V_c(max)) and the maximum rate of electron transport (J_max). Both of the parameters were optimized without assumptions about their mutual magnitude. The values obtained for the biochemical model parameters were similar at all the sites during summer time. To describe seasonality, different temperature fits were made for the spring, summer and autumn periods. During summer, average J_max across the sites was 54.0 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹ (variance 31.2 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹) and V_c(max) was 12.0 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹ (variance 6.6 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹) at 17°C. The sensitivity of the model to LAI and atmospheric soil water stress was also studied. The impact of seasonality on annual GPP was 17% when only summertime parameterization was used throughout the year compared to seasonally changing parameterizations.