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

• 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.