Module 2.6 Estimation of GHG emissions from biomass burning REDD+ training materials by GOFC-GOLD, Wageningen University, World Bank FCPF 1 Module 2.6 Estimation of GHG emissions from biomass burning Module developer: Luigi Boschetti, Department of Forest, Rangeland and Fire Sciences University of Idaho Exercise: Using available fire datasets to estimate GHG emissions from biomass burning in national context for Botswana and Brazil V1, March 2015 Creative Commons License

Module 2.6 Estimation of GHG emissions from biomass burning REDD+ training materials by GOFC-GOLD, Wageningen University, World Bank FCPF 2 Focus : post-fire assessment

Module 2.6 Estimation of GHG emissions from biomass burning REDD+ training materials by GOFC-GOLD, Wageningen University, World Bank FCPF 3 In terms of REDD+ activities… REDD+ potential activities= Forest sector (AFOLU / IPCC) Deforestation = Forest land converted to other land Forest degradation SMF= Forest land remaining forest land Conservation Enhancement F C S Enhancement F C S = Other land converted to forest land

Module 2.6 Estimation of GHG emissions from biomass burning REDD+ training materials by GOFC-GOLD, Wageningen University, World Bank FCPF 4 Monitoring and reporting Obtaining emission estimates from greenhouse gases requires:  Activity data: ● area burned ● land cover and land cover change maps ● forest type maps  Emission factors: ● Burned biomass per unit area, stratified by landcover and forest type ● Coefficients for converting burned biomass in emitted gases (CO2 and non-CO2)

Module 2.6 Estimation of GHG emissions from biomass burning REDD+ training materials by GOFC-GOLD, Wageningen University, World Bank FCPF 5 Monitoring and reporting  The amount of information needed changes with the reporting Tier  Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 require data, with increasing level of detail in terms of: ● the characterization of uncertainties in the activity data and emission factors ● the collection of country-specific emission factors ● the inclusion of all the carbon pools (not only the above ground biomass)  As a companion to the training module, existing datasets and the IPCC tables are used for simple Tier 1 reporting

Module 2.6 Estimation of GHG emissions from biomass burning REDD+ training materials by GOFC-GOLD, Wageningen University, World Bank FCPF 6 Emission computation The ‘bottom up’ formula can be rewritten using increasingly detailed stratification by activity and landcover class: Lfire a,lc = A a,lc × Mb a,lc × Cf a,lc × Gef a,lc Where:  Lfire a,lc is the total amount of gas emitted in the country because of activity a in landcover class lc  A a,lc is the total area burned because of activity ain landcover class lc  Mb a,lc, Cf a,lc, Gef a,lc are the biomass load, combustion factor and emission coefficients by activity and landcover class

Module 2.6 Estimation of GHG emissions from biomass burning REDD+ training materials by GOFC-GOLD, Wageningen University, World Bank FCPF 7 Emission computation The total emissions for the country are simply the sum of the emissions for each activity and landcover class: Lfire = ∑ Lfire a,lc

Module 2.6 Estimation of GHG emissions from biomass burning REDD+ training materials by GOFC-GOLD, Wageningen University, World Bank FCPF 8 Example: tables from the Mexico GHG report  Activity data: yearly burned area, stratified by type of fire

Module 2.6 Estimation of GHG emissions from biomass burning REDD+ training materials by GOFC-GOLD, Wageningen University, World Bank FCPF 9 Example: tables from the Mexico GHG report  Country specific data are used to calculate the carbon budget by activity, vegetation type and carbon pool

Module 2.6 Estimation of GHG emissions from biomass burning REDD+ training materials by GOFC-GOLD, Wageningen University, World Bank FCPF 10 Example: tables from the Mexico GHG report  Then from Carbon to Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Module 2.6 Estimation of GHG emissions from biomass burning REDD+ training materials by GOFC-GOLD, Wageningen University, World Bank FCPF 11 Exercise: a TIER-1 Assessment The exercise (see excel spreadsheet) makes use of existing datasets to compute emissions due to biomass burning, using a simple IPCC Tier 1 methodology The exercise is conducted for two whole countries (Brazil and Botswana); the datasets employed are:  MODIS MCD45 burned area product  MODIS MCD12 landcover product  Coefficients from the AFOLU guidelines

Module 2.6 Estimation of GHG emissions from biomass burning REDD+ training materials by GOFC-GOLD, Wageningen University, World Bank FCPF 12 Obtaining the data  All the MODIS datasets can be downloaded, free of charge, from in hdf formathttp://reverb.echo.nasa.gov

Module 2.6 Estimation of GHG emissions from biomass burning REDD+ training materials by GOFC-GOLD, Wageningen University, World Bank FCPF 13 Obtaining the data  The MCD45 burned area product is also available in Geotiff and Shapefile format from the MODIS Fire Website (  The MCD12 landcover product is available in a variety of formats, and in custom geographic subsets, from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (

Module 2.6 Estimation of GHG emissions from biomass burning REDD+ training materials by GOFC-GOLD, Wageningen University, World Bank FCPF 14 MCD12 Landcover product

Module 2.6 Estimation of GHG emissions from biomass burning REDD+ training materials by GOFC-GOLD, Wageningen University, World Bank FCPF 15 MCD45 Burned Area Product

Module 2.6 Estimation of GHG emissions from biomass burning REDD+ training materials by GOFC-GOLD, Wageningen University, World Bank FCPF 16 AFOLU coefficients  Crosswalk between the MCD12 landcover classes (UMD legend) and the IPCC guidelines land types  The biomass consumed [T/ha] is the product Mb lc × Cf lc

Module 2.6 Estimation of GHG emissions from biomass burning REDD+ training materials by GOFC-GOLD, Wageningen University, World Bank FCPF 17 AFOLU coefficients

Module 2.6 Estimation of GHG emissions from biomass burning REDD+ training materials by GOFC-GOLD, Wageningen University, World Bank FCPF 18 In the spreadsheet…  Area burned stratified by landcover for Brazil and Botswana in 2003  AFOLU reference values for biomass burned and emission factors  Calculation of the emissions by landcover class, and for the whole country

Module 2.6 Estimation of GHG emissions from biomass burning REDD+ training materials by GOFC-GOLD, Wageningen University, World Bank FCPF 19 Recommended modules as follow up  Module 2.7 to continue with estimation of uncertainties  Module 2.8 to learn more about evolving technologies for monitoring of forest area changes, carbon stocks and emissions  Modules 3. to proceed with REDD+ assessment and reporting