Houghton, Richard (Skee): Woodwell Climate Research Center (Project Lead)
Houghton, Richard (Skee): Woodwell Climate Research Center (Project Lead)
Project Funding:
2011 - 2012
NRA: 2010 NASA: Science Definition Team for Carbon Monitoring System
Funded by NASA
Abstract:
R.A. Houghton is proposing to be a member of the Science Definition Team (SDT) for a Carbon Monitoring System (CMS). He would participate in development of the Biomass product. He has spent 25 years estimating the global net flux of carbon to the atmosphere from changes in land use, an estimation that requires information on biomass and carbon stocks. Over time his estimates have become more and more spatially detailed, and the next step is to co-locate changes in land use with carbon density at the spatial resolution
of change. That will improve estimates of carbon flux enormously at all scales. The step after that will be to use multi-temporal, spatial data of aboveground biomass to estimate change more directly (without necessarily identifying land-use change first). That approach will identify additional sources and sinks of carbon, heretofore unobserved, and may help resolve and explain a large portion of the residual terrestrial sink. Both a one-time map of biomass and successive maps of biomass change will help with the monitoring, reporting, and verification of REDD and LULUCF, whether at the project or national level. Future demand for space-borne measurements of biomass and biomass change will only grow. The time is right for a carbon monitoring system, a major part of which will be measurement of aboveground biomass from space.R.A. Houghton is proposing to be a member of the Science Definition Team (SDT) for a Carbon Monitoring System (CMS). He would participate in development of the Biomass product. He has spent 25 years estimating the global net flux of carbon to the atmosphere from changes in land use, an estimation that requires information on biomass and carbon stocks. Over time his estimates have become more and more spatially detailed, and the next step is to co-locate changes in land use with carbon density at the spatial resolution of change. That will improve estimates of carbon flux enormously at all scales. The step after that will be to use multi-temporal, spatial data of aboveground biomass to estimate change more directly (without necessarily identifying land-use change first). That approach will identify additional sources and sinks of carbon, heretofore unobserved, and may help resolve and explain a large portion of the residual terrestrial sink. Both a one-time map of biomass and successive maps of biomass change will help with the monitoring, reporting, and verification of REDD and LULUCF, whether at the project or national level. Future demand for space-borne measurements of biomass and biomass change will only grow. The time is right for a carbon monitoring system, a major part of which will be measurement of aboveground biomass from space.
More details may be found in the following project profile(s):
