Direct field measurements of surface albedo over monthly, seasonal, and annual periods for six candidate bioenergy crops, a reference maize crop, and a reference forest estimate the magnitudes and temporal changes of albedo in different cellulosic bioenergy crops over a 3-year period. Albedo differences among crops during the growing season were found to be statistically significant, with the conversion of reference forest and maize landscapes to perennials providing a cooling effect on the local climate. Therefore, variations in surface reflectivity can inherently drive the shifts in radiative forcing patterns and climate variability.

 

Take a read!

 

Under Review

Chen, J., Robertson, G.P., Lei, C., Chu H., Sciusco, P., Li, X., Abraha, M., Wang, Y. (Submitted for review, Nov 2023) Underestimated Albedo-Induced Climate Cooling Benefits from Terrestrial Ecosystems. Environmental Research Letters.

 

Reed, D., Lei, C., Baule, W., Shirkey, G., Chen, J., Czajkowski, K. P., & Ouyang, Z. (Jan 2023). Impacts of an urban density gradient on land-surface thermodynamic fluxes across seasonal timescales. International Journal of Climatology.

 

Published

Lei, C., Chen, J., & Robertston, G. P. (2023).  Climate cooling benefits of cellulosic bioenergy crops due to elevated albedo. Global Change Biology: Bioenergy.

https://doi.org/10.1111/GCBB.13098

 

Shirkey, G., John, R., Chen, J., Dahlin, K., Abraha, M., Sciusco, P., Lei, C., & Reed, D. E. (2022). Fine resolution remote sensing spectra improves estimates of gross primary production of croplands. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 326, 109175.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2022.109175


Ouyang, Z., Sciusco, P., Jiao, T., Feron, S., Lei, C., Li, F., ... & Chen, J. (2022). Albedo changes caused by future urbanization contribute to global warming. Nature Communications, 13(1), 1-9.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31558-z


Sciusco, P., Chen, J., Giannico, V., Robertson, G.P., Abraha, M., Lei, C., Shirkey, G., Yuan, J. (2022). Albedo-induced global warming impact (GWI Δα) of an Upper Midwest USA watershed — A significantly undermined regulator in climate mitigations. Land, 11(2), 283.
https://doi.org/10.3390/land11020283


Abraha, M., Chen, J., Hamilton, S. K., Sciusco, P., Lei, C., Shirkey, G., Yuan, J., Hamilton, S.K., & Robertson, G. P. (2021). Albedo-induced global warming impact of Conservation Reserve Program grasslands converted to annual and perennial bioenergy crops. Environmental Research Letters, 16(8),084059.

https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac1815


Lei, C., Abraha, M., Chen, J., & Su, YJ. (2021). Long term variability of root production in bioenergy systems using ingrowth cores and eddy covariance. Journal of Plant Ecology.
https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtab018


Chen, J., Lei, C., & Sciusco, P. (2021). Modeling Ecosystem Global Warming Potentials. In Chen J. (Author), Biophysical Models and Applications in Ecosystem Analysis (pp. 119-150). East Lansing: Michigan State University Press.

https://doi.org/10.14321/j.ctv1h1vc27.11


Dahlin, K. M., Akanga, D., Lombardozzi, D. L., Reed, D. E., Shirkey, G., Lei, C., Abraha, M. & Chen, J. (2020). Challenging a global land surface model in a local socio-environmental system. Land, 9(10), 398.

https://doi.org/10.3390/land9100398


Sciusco, P., Chen, J., Abraha, M., Lei, C., Robertson, G.P., Lafortezza, R., Shirkey, G., Ouyang, Z., Zhang, R., & John, R. (2020). Spatiotemporal variations of albedo in managed agricultural landscapes: inferences to global warming impacts (GWI). Landscape Ecology, 35(6), 1385-1402.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-020-01022-8


Lei, C., & Zhu, L. (2018). Spatio-temporal variability of land use/land cover change (LULCC) within the Huron river: effects on stream flows. Climate Risk Management, 19, 35-47.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2017.09.002


Scott-Smith, C., Oh, J.S., & Lei, C. (2015). Exploring the equity dimensions of US bicycle sharing systems (No. TRCLC 14-01). Western Michigan University. Transportation Research Center for Livable Communities.

https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.30941.721635


In Preparation

Lei, C., Reich, P., Ibanez, I., Chen, J., Robertson, G. P., Sciusco, P., Lei, M., & Shirkey, G. (Final preparation). An Evaluation of Surface Reflectivity for Candidate Bioenergy Crops.


Lei, C., Chen, J., & Robertston, P. (Final preparation). Global warming impacts of converting forest into bioenergy croplands: Case study at the Kellogg Biological Station.


Lei, C., Sciusco, P., Chen, J., Robertson, G. P., Lindback, E., Lei, M., Shirkey, G., & Arrocha, I. (Final preparation). Temporal variations of albedo on bioenergy crops: Effects on global warming potential during three cultivation seasons.