Ying Sun

My research focuses on understanding fundamental processes that govern the interactions between agroecosystems and climate at various scales. The approach I use integrates leaf/canopy measurements, numerical modeling, remote sensing observations, and big-data synthesis and machine learning. Her recent work particularly focuses on using remote sensing of Solar-Induced chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF) and land surface modeling (i.e., the NCAR Community Land Model) to quantify the spatial-temporal dynamics photosynthesis and its response to changing climate/stress.

Selected journal articles

• *Wen, J., J. B. Fisher, N. C. Parazoo, L. Hu, M. E. Litvak, #Sun, Y., Resolve the continuous diurnal cycle of high-resolution ECOSTRESS Evapotranspiration and Land Surface Temperature. Water Resour. Res. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022WR032227
• Gu, L., B. Grodzinski, +J. Han, T. Marie, A. Pocar-Castell, X. Yin, Y. Zhang, Y. Song, Y. Sun (2022), Granal thylakoid structure and function: explaining an enduring mystery of higher plants. New Phytol. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.18371
•  Doughty,R., T. Kurosu, N. Parazoo, P. Köhler, Y. Wang, Y. Sun, and C. Frankenberg (2022). Global GOSAT, OCO-2 and OCO-3 Solar Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence Datasets. Earth System Science Data. https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/14/1513/2022/
  Constenla-Villoslada, S., Y. Liu, *Wen, J., Y. Sun, S. Chonabayashi (2022), Satellite imagery reveals large-scale land restoration program improved drought resilience in Ethiopia's degraded watersheds. Nature Sustainability. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-00861-4
• +Han, J., +Chang, C.Y., L. Gu, Zhang, Y., Walker, A.P., *Wen, J., +Kira, O., McNaull, S., #Y. Sun (2022), The physiological basis for estimating photosynthesis from Chla fluorescence. New Phytol. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.18045
• +Han, J., L. Gu, *Wen, J., #Y. Sun (2022), Inferring photosynthetic capacity parameters from Solar-Induced chlorophyll Fluorescence: Key role of the redox state of PSII reaction centers. Plant. Cell Environ. http://doi.org/10.1111/pce.14271
• *Lai, J., Y. Li, J. Chen, G-Y. Niu, P. Lin, Q. Li, L. Wang, *J. Han, *Z. Luo, #Y. Sun (2022), Massive crop expansion threatens agriculture and water sustainability in Northwestern China. Environ. Res. Lett. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac46e8/meta
• Chang, C.Y., J. Wen, J. Han, O. Kira, J. LeVonne, J. Melkonian, S. J. Riha, J. Skovira, S. Ng, L. Gu, J.D. Wood., P. Näthe, U. Rascher, #Y. Sun (2021). Unpacking the drivers of diurnal dynamics of sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF): Canopy structure, plant physiology, instrument configuration and retrieval methods. Remote Sens. Environ. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2021.112672
•  Browne, C.; D.S. Matteson; L. Mcbride; L. Hu; Y. Liu; Y. Sun; *J. Wen; C.B. Barrett (2021). Multivariate random forest prediction of poverty and malnutrition prevalence. PLOS One https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255519
• McBride, L., C.B. Barrett, C. Browne, L. Hu, Y. Liu, D. S. Matteson, Y. Sun, and *J. Wen (2021). Predicting poverty and malnutrition for targeting, mapping, monitoring, and early warning. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy. https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13175
•  Jain, P., W. Liu, S. Zhu, +C.Y.Chang, J. Melkonian, F.E. Rockwell, D. Pauli, Y. Sun, W.R.Zipfel, N.M. Holbrook, S.J. Riha, M.Gore, A.D. Stroock (2021). A minimally
• disruptive method for measuring water potential in-planta using hydrogel nanoreporters. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2008276118
•  Zhang, Y., W. Yang, Y. Sun, +C.Y. Chang, J. Yu, W. Zhang (2021). Fusion of Multispectral Aerial Imagery and Vegetation Indices for Machine Learning-Based Ground Classification. Remote Sens. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13081411
•  +Kira, O., Chang, C.Y., L. Gu, J. Wen, Z. Hong, and #Y. Sun (2021). Partitioning net ecosystem exchange of CO2 using Solar-Induced chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF), Geophys. Res. Lett. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091247
• Chang, C.Y., R. Zhou, O. Kira, S. Marri, J. Skovira, L. Gu, and #Y. Sun (2020), An Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) for concurrent measurements of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence and hyperspectral reflectance toward improving crop monitoring, Agr. Forest. Meteorol. doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2020.108145
•  He, L., J. D. Wood, Y. Sun, T.S. Magney, D. Dutta, P. Köhler, Y. Zhang, Y. Yin, C. Frankenberg (2020), Tracking seasonal and interannual variability in photosynthetic downregulation in response to water stress at a temperate deciduous forest, J. Geophys. Res. Biogeosciences, 125, e2018JG005002. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JG005002
•  Joiner, J., Y. Yoshida, P. Köhler, P.K. Campbell, C. Frankenberg, C. van der Tol, P. Yang, N.C. Parazoo, L. Guanter, Y. Sun (2020), Systematic Orbital Geometry-Dependent Variations in Satellite Solar-Induced Fluorescence (SIF) Retrievals, Remote Sens. 12(15), 2346, doi.org/10.3390/rs12152346
•  Peng, B., K. Guan, W. Zhou, C. Jiang, L. He, C. Frankenberg, Y. Sun, P. Köhler (2020), Assessing the benefit of satellite-based Solar-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence in crop yield prediction, Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinf. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2020.102126
•  +Chang, C.Y., L. Guanter, C. Frankenberg, P. Köhler, L. Gu, and #Y. Sun (2020), Systematic assessment of retrieval methods for ground solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) using high-frequency automated field spectroscopy, J. Geophys. Res. Biogeosciences, 125, e2019JG005533. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JG005533 (TopDownloadedArticle in JGR)
•  +Kira, O., and #Y. Sun (2020), Extraction of sub-pixel C3/C4 emissions of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) using artificial neural network, ISPRS J PHOTOGRAMM. doi.org/10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2020.01.017
• *Wen, J., P. Köhler, G. Duveiller, N.C. Parazoo, *L. Yu, +C. Y. Chang, and #Y. Sun (2020), A Framework for Harmonizing Multiple Satellite Instruments to Generate a Long-Term Global High Spatial-Resolution Solar-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF), Remote Sens. Environ. doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2020.111644
• Knauer, J., S. Zaehle, M. De Kauwe, V. Haverd, M. Reichstein, Y. Sun (2019), Mesophyll conductance in land surface models: effects on photosynthesis and transpiration, Plant J. doi.org/10.1111/tpj.14587
•  Parazoo, N., C. Frankenberg, P. Köhler, J. Joiner, Y. Yoshida, T. Magney, Y. Sun, V. Yadav, (2019), Towards a harmonized long-term spaceborne record of far-red solar-induced fluorescence, J. Geophys. Res. Biogeosciences. doi.org/10.1029/2019JG005289
• Gonsamoa, A., J.M. Chen, L.He, C.Rogers, J. Liu, Y. Sun, Dara Entekhabi (2019), Exploring SMAP and OCO-2 observations to monitor soil moisture control on photosynthetic activity of global drylands and croplands, Remote Sens. Environ. doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2019.111314
•  Peng, Y., O. Kira, A. Gitelson, A. Nguy-Robertson, T. Arkebauer, Y. Sun, A. Suyker (2019), Gross Primary Production Estimation in Crops Using Solely Remotely Sensed Data, Agronomy J. doi.org/10.2134/agronj2019.05.0332
•  Magney, T.S., C. Frankenberg, P. Köhler, G. North, T.S. Davis, C. Dold, D. Dutta, J. B. Fisher, K. Grossmann, A. Harrington, J. Hatfield, J. Stutz, Y. Sun, A. Porcar-Castell (2019), Disentangling changes in the spectral shape of chlorophyll fluorescence: Implications for remote sensing of photosynthesis, J. Geophys. Res. Biogeosciences. doi.org/10.1029/2019JG005029
• *Wang, C., J. Beringer, L.B. Hutley, J. Cleverly, J. Li, Q. Liu, #Y. Sun (2019), Phenology Dynamics of Dryland Ecosystems Along North Australian Tropical Transect (NATT) Revealed by Satellite Solar-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF), Geophys. Res. Lett. doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082716
•  Gu, L., J. Han, J.D. Wood, C.Y. Chang, Y. Sun (2019), Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence and its importance for modeling photosynthesis from the side of light reactions, New Phytol. doi.org/10.1111/nph.15796
• . Dutta, D., D.S. Schimel, Y. Sun, C. van der Tol, C. Frankenberg (2019), Optimal Inverse Estimation of Ecosystem Parameters from Observations of Carbon and Energy Fluxes (2019), Biogeoscences. http://doi.org/10.5194/bg-16-77-2019
• *Yu, L., *J. Wen, +C.Y., Chang, C. Frankenberg, #Y. Sun (2019), High Resolution Global Contiguous Solar-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF) of Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2), Geophys. Res. Lett. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL081109. (TopDownloadedArticle in GRL; Editor Featured as a Research Spotlight in EOS: https://eos.org/editor-highlights/a-step-closer-to-quantifying-global-photosynthesis-in-real-time)
•  Gu, L., J.D. Wood, C.Y. Chang, Y. Sun (2018), Advancing Terrestrial Ecosystem Science with a Novel Automated Measurement System for Sun-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence for Integration with Eddy Covariance Flux Networks, J. Geophys. Res. Biogeosciences. doi.org/10.1029/2018JG004742
• #Sun, Y., C. Frankenberg, M. Jung, J. Joiner, L. Guanter, P. Köhler, T. Magney (2018), Overview of Solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2: Retrieval, cross-mission comparison, and global monitoring for GPP, Remote Sens. Environ., 209, 808-823. doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2018.02.016
•  Zhang, Y., X. Xiao, Y. Zhang, S. Wolf, S. Zhou, U. Joiner, L. Guanter, M. Verma, Y. Sun, X. Yang, E. Paul-Limoges, C. Gough, G. Wohlfahrt, B. Gioli, C. van der Tol, N. Yann, M. Lund, A. Grandcourt (2018), On the relationship between sub-daily instantaneous and daily total gross primary production: Implications for interpreting satellite-based SIF retrievals. Remote Sens. Environ., 205, 276-289. doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2017.12.009
• Liu, J., Bowman, K. W., Schimel, D. S., Parazoo, N. C., Jiang, Z., Lee, M., Bloom, , A. A., Wunch, D., Frankenberg, C., Sun, Y., O'Dell, C. W., Gurney, K. R., Menemenlis, D., Girerach, M., Crisp, D., & Eldering, A. (2017). Contrasting carbon cycle responses of the tropical continents to the 2015–2016 El Nino. Science. 358:eaam5690.
• Sun, Y., Frankenberg, C., Wood, J. D., Schimel, D., Jung, M., Guanter, L., Drewry, D., Verma, M., Porcar-Castell, A., Griffis, T. J., & others, (2017). OCO-2 advances photosynthesis observation from space via solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence. Science. 358:eaam5747.
• Eldering, A., Wennberg, P., Crisp, D., Schimel, D., Gunson, M., Chatterjee, A., Liu, J., Schwandner, F., Sun, Y., O’dell, C., Frankenberg, C., Taylor, T., Fisher, B., Osterman, G. B., Wunch, D., Hakkarainen, J., Tamminen, J., & Weir, B. (2017). The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 early science investigations of regional carbon dioxide fluxes. Science. 358:eaam5745.
• Keeling, R. F., Graven, H. D., Welp, L. R., Resplandy, L., Bi, J., Piper, S. C., Sun, Y., Bollenbacher, A., & Meijer, H. A. (2017). Atmospheric evidence for a global secular increase in carbon isotopic discrimination of land photosynthesis. PNAS: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 114:10361–10366.
• Magney, T. S., Frankenberg, C., Fisher, J. B., Sun, Y., North, G. B., Davis, T. S., Kornfeld, A., & Siebke, K. (2017). Connecting active to passive fluorescence with photosynthesis: a method for evaluating remote sensing measurements of Chl fluorescence. New Phytologist. 215:1594–1608.
• Wright, J. S., Fu, R., Worden, J. R., Chakraborty, S., Clinton, N. E., Risi, C., Sun, Y., & Yin, L. (2017). Rainforest-initiated wet season onset over the southern Amazon. PNAS: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 114:8481–8486.
• Gu, L., Pallardy, S. G., Yang, B., Hosman, K. P., Mao, J., Ricciuto, D., Shi, X., & Sun, Y. (2016). Testing a land model in ecosystem functional space via a comparison of observed and modeled ecosystem flux responses to precipitation regimes and associated stresses in a Central US forest. JGR: Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences. 121:1884–1902.
• Sun, Y., Fu, R., Dickinson, R., Joiner, J., Frankenberg, C., Gu, L., Xia, Y., & Fernando, N. (2015). Drought onset mechanisms revealed by satellite solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence: Insights from two contrasting extreme events. JGR: Journal of Geophysical Research. 120:2427-2440.
• Sun, Y., Gu, L., Dickinson, R. E., Pallardy, S. G., Baker, J., Cao, Y., DaMatta, F. M., Dong, X., Ellsworth, D., VanGoethem, D., & others, (2014). Asymmetrical effects of mesophyll conductance on fundamental photosynthetic parameters and their relationships estimated from leaf gas exchange measurements. Plant, Cell & Environment. 37:978–994.
• Sun, Y., Gu, L., Dickinson, R. E., Norby, R. J., Pallardy, S. G., & Hoffman, F. M. (2014). Impact of mesophyll diffusion on estimated global land CO2 fertilization. PNAS: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 111:15774–15779.