Scaling plant physiology for Earth System Models (ESMs)

Current Ecosystem and Earth System Models (EESMs) fail to capture the magnitude, spatial and temporal variation in carbon, water and energy fluxes resulting in critical uncertainties in the projection of future global change.  EESM uncertainty is currently dominated by model parameter uncertainty stemming from inadequate representation of plant traits.  We present a generalized framework for scaling plant physiological traits with remote sensing approaches including the quantification and mapping of uncertainties in trait estimates.  This approach provides the data products necessary to enable a transformational change in representation of plant traits in next generation EESMs.