Translation to the New TCO Panel Beverly Law Prof. Global Change Forest Science Science Chair, AmeriFlux Network Oregon State University

Protocols for Data Collection and Submission Need: – Uniform methods, standards for high quality observations – Uniform database for global assessments Important standards/definitions: – Carbon stocks in vegetation and soil, productivity, ecosystem & component fluxes – Vegetation types – Land use Reference for other documents (ECV, GEO Carbon Report) Office of Science U.S. Department of Energy

Protocols – Carbon stocks in forests, agricultural crops, shrublands Live and dead wood in forests (revise – explicit estimates of biomass mortality by species + metadata) Understory vegetation in forests (specify biomass mortality) Foliar, litter carbon Soil carbon – NPP – LAI – Ecosystem CO 2 & water fluxes – Component fluxes (e.g. soil resp.) – Foliar, litter, soil C & N content – Relevant to land degradation

FLUXNET: A Global Network of Observation Sites 500+ Sites, 10 Regional Networks, 45 Countries Quantify and understand causes of variation in terrestrial exchange of carbon, water and energy with atmosphere

FLUXNET: Global Terrestrial Flux Observations Carbon/water/energy fluxes Meteorology, soil and plant variables Multiple biomes and disturbances in a broad range of climate Standardized database, shared protocols (Law et al. FAO 2008)

Transitional activities – Contribute to: Clarification of roles of programs to reduce redundancy Ensuring coherence of products, terminology, methods, and standards Process for feedback among programs and with research developments – Incorporate land degradation – relevant to carbon – GEO Carbon Report

Proposed future activities – Interactions among programs – Update FAO field and data submission protocols Ecosystem variables relevant to terrestrial carbon, including land degradation Fill existing gaps (e.g. methods for tropical forests) Broad agreement – Recommendations for operational systems (depending on resources) Optimize location and number of in situ observations Land degradation, deforestation, desertification, drought effects

Moderate Resolution Remote Sensing Deforestation (Huang et al. 2009) GOFC-GOLD Recommendations

Moderate Resolution Remote Sensing Desertification

GEO Integrated Global Carbon Observations – Provide long-term observations required to improve the understanding of the current state and future behavior of the global carbon cycle – Monitor and assess the effectiveness of carbon sequestration and/or emission reduction activities on global atmospheric CO 2 levels

Integrated Global Carbon Observations: Essential Elements (GEO Carbon Report) Terrestrial ecosystem flux observations (CO 2, water vapor, heat fluxes) Ocean and atmosphere in situ measurements Inventories Global satellite data Models to integrate these observations for spatial maps of carbon stocks and fluxes Operational system for policy relevant carbon information

Issues Continuity of and gaps in existing carbon observation systems – Landsat Data Continuity Mission starts 2012 (2 yr gap ) – Terrestrial flux regional networks – Spatial & temporal continuity of soil carbon monitoring, methods used – Carbon variables missing in current inventories Communicate operational observation needs Incorporating new methods of measurement/analysis/integration LCDM sensor

(Kennedy et al., OSU) LandTrendr: Landsat-based Detection of Trends in Disturbance and Recovery Extract spectral trajectories for pixels Prepare stack of yearly imagery Extract summary information from segments Statistically identify and fit segments with consistent trends Steps in the LandTrendr process Evaluate veracity of selected events

Integration for Regional Mapping of Terrestrial Carbon Maps of Terrestrial Carbon Stocks and Fluxes Terrestrial Carbon Modeling Inventories Carbon Stocks SOURCES Biosphere CO 2 Flux Observations SINKS Spatial data: Land-use, land cover, meteorology Understanding of terrestrial carbon processes (Law et al. 2006)

Terrestrial carbon model Terrestrial carbon model Atmospheric Transport model Atmospheric Transport model Climate and weather fields Ecological studies Biomass soil carbon inventories Remote sensing Atmospheric CO 2 Remote sensing Atmospheric CO 2 Remote sensing of Vegetation properties Growth Land cover /use Fires Biomass Radiation Remote sensing of Vegetation properties Growth Land cover /use Fires Biomass Radiation Georeferenced emissions inventories Georeferenced emissions inventories Atmospheric measurements Atmospheric measurements Eddy-covariance flux towers Data assimilation Ocean carbon model Ocean remote sensing Ocean color Altimetry Winds SST SSS Ocean remote sensing Ocean color Altimetry Winds SST SSS Ocean time series Biogeochemical pCO2 Surface observation pCO2 nutrients Water column inventories rivers Lateral fluxes Coastal studies optimized Fluxes optimized model parameters