Improved CASA model based on satellite remote sensing data: simulating net primary productivity of Qinghai Lake basin alpine grassland

Abstract. The Carnegie–Ames–Stanford Approach (CASA) model is widely used to estimate vegetation net primary productivity (NPP) at regional scales. However, the CASA is still driven by multisource data, e.g. satellite remote sensing (RS) data, and ground observations that are time-consuming to obtain. RS data can conveniently provide real-time regional information and may replace ground observation data to drive the CASA model. We attempted to improve the CASA model in this study using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) RS products, the GlobeLand30 RS product, and the digital elevation model data derived from radar RS. We applied it to simulate the NPP of alpine grasslands in the Qinghai Lake basin, which is located in the northeastern Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau, China. The accuracy of the RS-data-driven CASA, with a mean absolute percent error (MAPE) of 22.14 % and root mean square error (RMSE) of 26.36 g C m−2 per month, was higher than that of the multisource-data-driven CASA, with a MAPE of 44.80 % and RMSE of 57.43 g C m−2 per month. The NPP simulated by the RS-data-driven CASA in July 2020 shows an average value of 108.01 ± 26.31 g C m−2 per month, which is similar to published results and comparable with the measured NPP. The results of this work indicate that simulating alpine grassland NPP with satellite RS data rather than ground observations is feasible. We may provide a workable reference for rapid simulation of grassland NPP to satisfy the requirements of accounting carbon stocks and other applications.