Terrestrial Carbon Observations
TCO Previous Strategy
1- better identify the potential end users, and their requirements
2- organize and coordinate reliable data and information on carbon
3- promote international efforts for standardization of data and models
4- link the science community with the conventions and potential users
Data considered (from local to regional and global scale):
- in situ data
- remote sensing
- terrestrial ecosystems
TTCO
TCO supports the
CarboAfrica Project
CarboAfrica
“Quantification, understanding and prediction, by a multidisciplinary integrated approach, of GHG emissions and its
associated spatial and temporal variability in Sub-Saharan Africa”
CarboAfrica is an international project funded by the European
Commission under the 6th Framework Programme.
The overarching goal of CARBOAFRICA is to expand and
coordinate a Carbon and greenhouse gases (GHGs) terrestrial
monitoring network of Sub-Saharan Africa.
The CarboAfrica
Objectives
To expand and coordinate a first Carbon and GHGs
terrestrial monitoring network of Sub-Saharan Africa, in
order to:
- better quantify GHGs emissions in Sub-Saharan Africa
(considering also fires and deforestation)
- better understand the role of fire emissions on the African
GHGs balance and its global implications
- better understand the Africa's role in the global climate
system
- improve the assessment of the land use change and
evaluate the potential for carbon sequestration (CDM) and
the reduced emissions by avoiding deforestation (REDD)
- promote the integration of the environmental dimension in
the African socio-economic context.
- Capacity building + training workshops
The CarboAfrica NetWork
Carbon Flux network:
16 stations (covering the main
covering all main African
ecosystem types) of which
2 new (including the 1st in an
African tropical forest, in
Ghana)
+
2 Atmospheric
CO2 stations
+
Airborne campaigns
(CARE experiment)
stations for atmospheric measurements
Eddy covariance sites already
available in Africa
Eddy covariance sites that will
be established by CARBOAFRICA
The CarboAfrica NetWork
1st Flux Tower in a African Tropical Forest
(Ghana, Ankasa Conservation Area)
Height: 65 m
TTCO
CarboAfrica
Publications
CarboAfrica, jointly with GCP, has coordinated the publication
of a special issue on:
"Carbon cycling in Sub-Saharan Africa"
Eds. R. Valentini, J. Canadell, and A. Bombelli
BioGeoScience
14 papers published, including “An outlook on the Sub-Saharan Africa
carbon balance”
TCO endorse FLUXNET, a global network for carbon
fluxes
FLUXNET is a global network of micrometeorological tower sites that use eddy
covariance methods to measure the exchanges of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and
energy between terrestrial ecosystem and atmosphere. At present, over 500 sites
are operating on a long-term and continuous basis, even for more than 10 years.
Researchers also collect data on site vegetation, soil, hydrologic, and
meteorological characteristics at the tower sites.
Main FluxNet networks
CARBOEUROPE
109 sites from Spain to Siberia!
AMERIFLUX
132 sites
from South
America
to Alaska!
CARBOAFRICA
16 sites, from
grasslands to
tropical forest
ASIA FLUX
21 sites
TCO
Terrestrial Carbon Observations
TCO supported the FLUXNET Synthesis Workshop
(18-22 Feb 2007, LaThuile, Italy)
The main results included:
1. the production of a standardized database of carbon, water and
energy fluxes (consisting of about 620 years of data from 180 eddy
covariance sites);
2. the definition of a common policy for data distribution
3. the foundations for the harmonization of the different eddy covariance
networks.
TCO and ECVs
Essential
(ECVs)
climate
variables
UNFCCC-SBSTA called GTOS to assess the
status of the development of standards for
each of the essential climate variables in the
terrestrial domain.
TCO has contributed to the development of
the standard reports for the ECVs, in
particular has coordinated the report on the
ECV-12 Biomass.
Biomass is a key variable to understand the
global carbon cycle and climate change
issues.
TCO
Terrestrial Carbon Observations
TCO supports the proposal of a new ECV:
TERRESTRIAL CARBON FLUXES
ECV importance
Understanding and managing GHGs emissions and sinks is a
fundamental step for avoiding dangerous climate change.
The proposal has been submitted to the GCOS (Global Climate
Observing System) programme, responsible for the whole ECV
process.
&
TCO is actively involved in the revision of the new
GEO 2009-11 WorkPlan and contributes to the
following GEO tasks:
• AR-09-03a Global Terrestrial Observations
• CL-09-03a Integrated Global Carbon Observation
(IGCO)
• US-09-03b Forest Mapping and Change Monitoring
• CL-09-03b Forest Carbon Tracking
&
GEO Carbon Community of Practice (CCoP)
CL-09-03a Integrated Global Carbon Observation (IGCO)
GTOS-TCO contributed to the GEO Carbon
Community of Practice (CCoP) since its
beginning (May 2009, Canberra).
The need for a CCoP come from the recognized
importance of an improved understanding of the
global C-cycle and its components.
The first product is the GEO C-report for an
Integrated Global Carbon Strategy, released as
first draft during the GEO VI plenary (Washington,
17-18/11/09) and that will be distributed as
summary at COP 15 (Copenhagen, Dec09).
TCO – Publications
Last TCO publication is:
Terrestrial Carbon Observations:
Protocols for Forest Sampling
and Data Submission
Law et al., 2008.
GTOS-55
available at: http://www.fao.org/gtos/doc/pub55.pdf
TCO – New Panel Chair
Proposal of a new panel chair
Beverly Law
Oregon State University
Welcome Bev!