Wind effects on leaf gas exchange

Gas and heat exchange by plant leaves are coupled physiological processes of significant importance for surface-climate interactions and ecohydrology. The common practice of modelling transpiration as an isothermal process (assuming equal leaf and air temperatures) may introduce significant bias into estimates of transpiration rates and water use efficiency (WUE, the amount of carbon gained by photosynthesis per unit of water lost by transpiration). In contrast, explicit consideration of stomatal and leaf boundary layer resistances in series and the leaf energy balance in a physically-based model led to some surprising results, such as suppressed transpiration rates for increasing wind speed at constant stomatal conductance.

This project employs a combination of physically-based modelling, field observations and lab experiments to better understand the coupling between atmospheric conditions and leaf gas and energy exchange.

Team: Stan Schymanski, Dani Or
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