Global Observation of Forest and Land Cover Dynamics
Strategy,
Functions &
Products
Michael Brady, Executive Director
GTOS 4th Steering Committee Meeting
Paris, 1-2 December 2009
What is GOFC-GOLD?
• A coordinated international effort to ensure a continuous
program of space-based and on-the-ground forest and
land cover observations
• A network of participants implementing coordinated
research, demonstration and operational projects
• A vision to share data, information and knowledge,
leading to informed action and decision support
• A long term process of building an improved match
between Observations, Data Products and User Needs
GOFC-GOLD Origins
• One of first IGOS prototype activities
• Strategy and implementation plans established in
the late 90s
• Became Panel of GTOS
• Decided to extend beyond forests to all land cover
• Hence Global Observations of Land Cover
Dynamics
Global Observation of Forest and Land Cover Dynamics
• Use and refinement of land
cover data and information
products
Land Cover Characteristics
and Change
• Coarse resolution earth
observations for land cover
mapping
• Fine-scale land cover change
• Integration with in-situ
observations
http://www.gofc-gold.uni-jena.de
Global Observation of Forest and Land Cover Dynamics
Fire Mapping and Monitoring
• Refining international
requirements for fire-related
observations
• Best possible use of fire
products from existing and
future satellite observing
systems
• Support fire management,
policy decision-making, and
global change research
http://gofc-fire.umd.edu
Steps for research and operational product
development
Specification of
requirement
Observations available (as data sets)
Algorithms/ assimilation
established
Research/ prototype
product created
Validation procedures
established and applied
Product adopted and
distributed by operational
agency
Routine quality
assurance & validation
Further improvements
needed to meet
requirements?
Ongoing Strategy Review
• 1999, Ottawa - GOFC-GOLD Report 2: A Strategy
for Global Observation of Forest Cover
• 2005, Beijing - GOFC-GOLD Report 24: A Revised
Strategy for GOFC-GOLD
• 2008, Jena - GOFC-GOLD Report 44: GOFCGOLD Strategy Review as part of the 3rd GOFCGOLD Land Cover Symposium
• 2009, Washington – GOFC-GOLD Strategy review
meeting associated with 6th GEO Plenary
Core Functions of GOFC-GOLD
1. Specifying requirements for products
2. Assessing algorithms and data assimilation procedures
3. Ensuring the availability of observations
4. Harmonization and the development of protocols and
standards
5. Ensuring that operational products meet accuracy
requirements
6. Capacity building and the role of regional networks
7. Creating GOFC-GOLD products and services
8. Providing information to support international
assessments
9. Advocacy role, especially in relation to the continuity of
observations and validation
Recent drivers for GOFC-GOLD
1.
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
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•
2.
Essential climate variables
Monitoring capacity needs of developing countries (REDD)
GCOS Implementation Plan
•
3.
Reliable methods for land-cover map accuracy assessment
Group on Earth Observation (GEO)
•
4.
4 land and forest related tasks in 10-year work plan
Global land cover monitoring and assessments
•
5.
GLOBCOVER, FAO-Forest Resources Assessment 2010
IGOS-P Land Theme (IGOL)
•
Land Use themes (agricultural monitoring, cover fragmentation)
2009 Strategy Review
• Adjust components
of GOFC-GOLD
• Confirm value added
• Renewal of support
GTOS
Global Strategies
& Frameworks
e.g. IGOL;
GEOSS, GCOS IP
GOFC-GOLD
Executive Committee
Project
Office
User
Outreach
Science and
Technical Board
Implementation
Teams
Regional
Networks
Working Groups
(as required)
Partnerships
e.g. UNISDR WFAG;
CEOS WGCV
Continued and new component support for 2010-2013
• Chair (NASA)
• Project Office (Canadian Forest Service, Canadian Space Agency)
• Land Cover Office (European Space Agency)
• Fire Office (NASA)
• Regional Networks (START, NASA, JRC, Canada)
• Working groups (Project Offices, member support)
• GTOS Secretariat
Notable achievements
• EO themes:
– Land cover
– Fire
– Biomass
• Mechanisms:
– REDD
– Regional Networks
– GEO
Land Cover Characteristics
and Change
Current emphasis:
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Ensure Continuity and Consistency of Observations
Promote Harmonization, Interoperability and Synergy of Land Cover
Products
Develop Validation Standards and Support their Implementation
Improve Adequacy and Advocacy of Land Information Products
Engage Regional Networks and Support Capacity Building
Share Data, Information, and Knowledge
Notable Achievements:
•
•
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Development of standards reports for the Land Cover and Biomass ECV’s
Contribution to GlobCover validation framework and implementation
Comparative validation study of several global land cover products
REDD Side Events at UNFCCC SBSTA and COP
Capacity building workshop on monitoring deforestation
Ensuring that operational products meet
accuracy requirements
Procedures for global
land cover validation
(Strahler et al, 2006)
Available at:
http://landval.gsfc.nasa.gov/p
df/GlobalLandCoverValidation.
pdf
GLOBCOVER 2005
• Global land cover using ENVISAT/MERIS (300 m resol.)
• ESA/JRC with FAO, IGBP, EEA, GOFC-GOLD …
• Builds upon experiences (GLC2000) and evolving
standards (LCCS, validation protocols)
Fire Mapping and Monitoring
Current emphasis:
• Developing a Global Fire Assessment
• Prototyping a Global Fire Early Warning System
• Development and implementation of an International Burned
Area Validation Protocol
• Evaluating the Fire Disturbance Essential Climate Variable
• Various international collaboration initiatives on active fire
characterization
Notable achievements:
• Establishment of the International Land Direct Readout
Coordination Committee (ILDRCC)
• Transfer of an Active Fire Monitoring system to operate at the
UN FAO
• Promoting and securing fire monitoring capabilities for the next
generation of planned polar-orbiting and geostationary satellites
(e.g. NPOESS VIIRS, GOES R, Sentinel-3)
Creating products and services
Global Fire Danger Rating System
Drought masked by fuel
ATSR Hotpots, 1995-2000ATSR Hotspot Density, 1995-2000
Drought x Fuel x Hotspot Density
Providing information to support
international assessments
Characterizing Global Fire
Interannual variability: April-May 2000 -2005
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation
and Forest Degradation
• GOFC-GOLD REDD working group formed in 2006
to address key technical issues (i.e. degradation,
accuracy assessment).
• “Sourcebook” on technical capabilities for monitoring
deforestation and its emissions
– Includes role of land cover and fire analysis in REDD
– Updated for REDD+ (Deforestation, Gains and Losses of
Carbon Stocks in Forests Remaining Forests, and
Forestation)
http://www.gofc-gold.uni-jena.de/redd
GOFC-GOLD Regional Networks
• 8 Regional Networks in Africa, South America & Asia
• Identifying and articulating regional issues, priorities,
and challenges for the use of earth observations
• Engaged in:
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Forest Resource Assessment 2010
Land cover product validation
Planning and coordination of optical and radar data acquisition
Global Fire Assessment 2010
Best practices formulation
Training and capacity building
Regional Network Data Initiatives where distribution is weak
GOFC-GOLD Regional Network Data Initiative
Goals
• Disseminate earth observation data in regions where available distribution methods
are not effective
• Compile regional and in country data sets relevant to land cover and fire
observations
Approach -- GOFC-GOLD regional network structure will be used to establish regional
nodes within the networks to:
• disseminate data on media (DVD, Disk)
• encourage regional products to be developed using the data
Pilot for Africa
• Involves 4 regional networks
• Network representatives received data and training over 3 weeks at USGS EDC
and South Dakota State University in April 2009
Asia-Pacific Regional Network for
Forest and Land Cover Monitoring
The need for improved forest monitoring was articulated in
the Sydney Declaration of the APEC (September 2007)
• Establishing the Asia-Pacific
Network for Sustainable
Forest Management and
Rehabilitation to enhance
capacity building and
strengthen information
sharing in the forestry sector
• Collaboration between all
regional initiatives on forests,
including the Asia Forest
Partnership
GOFC-GOLD and GEO
• Registering EO systems to build the
GEOSS
• Directly contributing to tasks:
– DA-09-03a Global Land Cover
– CL-09-03b Forest Carbon Tracking
– DI-09-03b Implementation of a Fire Warning System at
Global Level
– US-09-03b Forest Mapping and Change Monitoring
CL-09-03b Forest Carbon Tracking
National Demonstrators 2009
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Brazil
Guyana
Mexico
Indonesia (Borneo)
Australia (Tasmania)
Cameroon
Tanzania
• In 2010 we plan to expand this network of national demonstrators and
verification sites
• Utilise synergies where possible with CEOS LSI Constellation regional
areas, and countries from UN REDD + World-Bank Forest Partnership
PALSAR acquisition status (June 12 - Sep 30, 2009)
Cameroon - 2 coverages
June/July [completed] ;
Sep/Oct [completed]
Tanzania - 2 coverages
June/July [completed] ;
Sep/Oct [completed
Brazil & Guyana - 2 coverages
June/July [completed] ;
Aug/Sep [completed]
Borneo - 2 coverages
June/July [completed] ;
Aug/Sep [completed]
Mexico - 2 coverages
Aug/Sep [partially completed]
Sep/Oct [partially completed]
Tasmania - 2 coverages
June/July [completed] :
Aug/Sep [completed]
Selected Verification Sites
Verification
Sites for 2009
EO Data
Acquisition
Thematic Product Requirements
(as per IPCC-UNFCC Guidance)
UNFCCC framework definition of forest and deforestation adopted for
implementation of Article 3.3 and 3.4 (Kyoto Protocol)
Products needed:
•
National level Forest information (wall-to-wall; border-to-border)
– To avoid ‘leakage’
– To report at national + sub-national + project levels
•
Annual Change basis (i.e. time-series)
– UN/market reporting requirement,
– Improve accuracy and attribution of changes
•
Resolution (best operationally available eg 25 m)
– To report change at sub-hectare basis
GEO FCT Data Portal
[http://portal.geo-fct.org/ - official launch GEO-VI, Nov.18, 2009]
Supported by Google
FCT operational global system
• Statements at GEO-VI meeting in Washington DC requesting a
collaborative process
• GEO to assemble Interim Working Group to design an
operational system:
– identify and co-opt key people and institutions
– develop a budget and secure finances
– draft a terms of reference
• View to having an Implementation Plan for an Operational
Global System to present to the GEO Ministerial Summit next
year
• Discussion around the same time among GEO, CEOS and
participating CEOS agencies to seek assurances regarding
commitment of those agencies to the FCT outcomes in 2010
Emerging Priorities for GOFC-GOLD
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Biomass Monitoring
ECV implementation oversight
Land use mapping
support to CBD
Emerging Priorities for GOFC-GOLD
1) Biomass Monitoring
• GOFC-GOLD Working Group on Biomass initiated in
2009 at the 4th Global Vegetation Workshop
• The working group supports international initiatives to
specify the observation requirements for monitoring
biomass as an Essential Climate Variable (ECV)
• Working with the GEO forest carbon
tracking task
• Supports space agencies and their
efforts for improved biomass monitoring,
including the development of dedicated
space-borne missions
Emerging Priorities for GOFC-GOLD
2) ECV implementation oversight
Small ad hoc working group building upon the
GOFC-GOLD land cover team and the CEOS
WGCV land (cover) validation sub-group
1. International communication (with GTOS, GCOS)
2. Synthesize ECV monitoring requirements beyond
what exists today
3. Needs and frameworks "international compliance"
i.e. on product definitions, synergy, and
harmonization
4. Framework for independent and operational
accuracy assessments (CEOS WGCV Stage 4)
Emerging Priorities for GOFC-GOLD
3) Land Use Mapping
• Planning for a LCIT working group on Land-Use/Agriculture
• Merge activities so that the GOFC activities and GEO tasks can be mutually
beneficial.
– Agriculture focus used to evaluate adaptation to climate change
– Use to evaluate competition for land between bioenergy and food production
– 3 global datasets: baseline with routine change and crop calendars
• Challenge for GOFC-GOLD:
• Initial focus on land cover, trend toward focus on
land cover change, even less consensus on definitions
(legends) with respect to change than exist for land
cover -- this is one of the topics where the differences
between land cover and land use become particularly
poignant
Emerging Priorities for GOFC-GOLD
4) support to CBD
The following biodiversity information might be
derived from satellite data:
• whether or not a particular habitat continues to exist
• the degree of habitat fragmentation
• land cover and other parameters as a proxy to infer species
distributions and trends
• temporal vegetation dynamics
• disturbance events (i.e. fire, deforestation);
• land use intensification (wildlands to urban), crucial habitats, and
edge effects
GTOS Focus Areas
GTOS Strategy
Current GOFC-GOLD Activity
Climate change
• ECV for land cover, fire and
biomass
• REDD Sourcebook
Terrestrial carbon stocks and
fluxes
• GEO forest carbon tracking task
• Biomass working group
• Global fire assessment
Land degradation
• Land cover update and change
detection
• Fire monitoring and characterization
Loss of biodiversity
• Not directly addressed (but land use
theme being considered)
Integration of space and ground
observations
• GEO forest carbon tracking task
• FRA 2010 methods/validation
• Biomass working group
Global Observation of Forest and Land Cover Dynamics
Thank you,
Questions?
Main web page http://www.fao.org/gtos/gofc-gold/
Land cover IT web page http://www.gofc-gold.uni-jena.de/
Fire IT web page http://gofc-fire.umd.edu