Project Funding: 2009 - 2012

NRA: 2008 NASA: Terrestrial Ecology   

Funded by NASA

Abstract:
Non-CO2 greenhouse gases (CH4, CO, N2O) and aerosols account for >50% of the radiative forcing attributed to CO2, with very large uncertainties. The proposed synthesis will collect the rich data sets for these species from the LBA-ECO and produce the first comprehensive, accessible data base, then undertake a focused set of synthetic studies. The data will reside with other LBA archives at the ORNL DAAC. The syntheses will give both data providers and the scientific community opportunities to use powerful analysis tools to quantify key land surface processes from the data, employing three complementary analysis frameworks: (1) inverse model studies with the global chemistry/transport model GEOS-CHEM (2) high-resolution receptor-oriented studies using the Lagrangian Particle Dispersion model STILT; and (3) high-resolution models based on the Brazilian CATT-BRAMS that uses both Eulerian and Langrangian frameworks, with dynamics, remote-sensing representation of sources, and nested domains tailored specifically for Brazil. The work will combine these tools in new ways to deliver comprehensive, robust assessments of South American sources/sinks for target species. Deliverables: 1. A comprehensive data base in uniform, accessible format. 2. Value-added data products (combined time series, data comparisons, spatially explicit representations (a.k.a. maps), etc). 3. Bottom-up inventories with best possible spatial and temporal resolution, disaggregated by source type, providing spatially explicit, time-resolved surface flux inventories for use in the proposed syntheses and inclusion in the data base. 4. Model studies defining sources, sinks, and exports of major climate-relevant species from Amazônia, including CH4, N2O, CO, and aerosols (organic aerosol, elemental carbon/black carbon). 5. Validation and improvement of emissions inventories from the synthesis products at various scales from regional to continental, defining emissions of these gases in the LBA domain. Each of the above approximates 6 months of focus in the 30 month time span for the proposed project.

2010 NASA Terrestrial Ecology Science Team Meeting Poster(s)

• Using recent BARCA aircraft measurements and tower data in Amazonia to constrain CO2 fluxes   --   (Victoria Y. Chow, Marcos Longo, Elaine W. Gottlieb, Greg Santoni, Steven C. Wofsy, Veronika Beck, Huilin Chen, Olaf Kolle, Julia Steinbach, Christoph Gerbig, Francisco Morais, Alcides C. Rebeiro, Kenia Wiedemann, Maria Assuncao de Silva Dias, Paulo Artaxo, Pedro Celso, Do Gramacho, Saulo Freitas, Niklas Juergens, Meinrat O. Andreae, Scott R. Saleska, Natalia R. Coupe, Christine Wiedenmyer, Megan Bela, Karla Longo)   [abstract]

More details may be found in the following project profile(s):

• NASA Terrestrial Ecology (TE) Project Profile