Miller, John: NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory (Project Lead)
Basu, Sourish: NASA GSFC GMAO / University of Maryland (Co-Investigator)
Morton, Douglas (Doug): NASA GSFC (Co-Investigator)
Aben, Ilse: SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research (Collaborator)
Andrews, Arlyn: NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (Collaborator)
De Mazière, Martine: Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (Collaborator)
Deeter, Merritt: National Center for Atmospheric Research (Collaborator)
Lavric, Jost: Acoem Ecotech (Collaborator)
Ometto, Jean: National Institute for Space Research (Collaborator)
Souza, Rodrigo Augusto Ferreira: State University of Amazonas (Collaborator)
Van Leeuwen, Thijs Thomas: VanderSat B.V. (Collaborator)
Project Funding:
2016 - 2019
NRA: 2015 NASA: Carbon Monitoring System
Funded by NASA
Abstract:
We propose to use the combination of remote sensing of atmospheric carbon monoxide (CO) from three different satellite sensors -- MOPITT, IASI and TROPOMI -- along with state of the art, high resolution, maps of burned area to determine fire emissions over the Amazon Basin, spatially, temporally, and by fire type. These data will be used with a data assimilation system that will appropriately scale burned area maps to match both in situ and satellite CO data. Calculating emissions from different fire types will allow us to better understand the net climate impact of fire emissions in the Amazon Basin (note that
not all fire emission have a net climate impact). Note that while fire emission modeling approaches based on burned area, like CASA/GFED also calculate fire by type and region, they are based on coarser land surface maps. They also likely underestimate understory fires have trouble identifying fires during high aerosol loading and persistent cloud cover. In contrast, an atmospheric approach, based on measurements of CO and high resolution burned area maps, will allow for integration of carbon emissions from various types of fires, whether or not they can be easily detected from space.
Fire carbon emission by type and area will be a valuable addition to existing methods used to calculate forest carbon emissions as part of REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) projects. To this end, we will also conduct a stakeholders workshop involving Brazilian scientists and climate policy representatives to communicate our results and approach and learn about their information needs. The policy-relevant scientific research and stakeholder outreach we propose are both closely aligned with the goals of NASA’s Carbon Monitoring System (CMS).
Specific project deliverables proposed include development of novel burned area products at high resolution from 2010-2018 that will allow for improved classification of burned area and inclusion of hard to detect fires, such as understory fires, in burned area maps. On the atmospheric side, we will conduct a thorough bias assessment of the satellite data using in situ CO data, allowing us to apply bias correction algorithms. Bias corrections are critical to ensure that gradients in the spatially dense CO data are geophysical and do not result in flux biases. Moreover, bias corrected satellite CO products will be made available to the broader community.
More details may be found in the following project profile(s):
