Project Funding: 2016 - 2019

NRA: 2015 NASA: Carbon Monitoring System   

Funded by NASA

Abstract:
Our team seeks to build upon and expand the current Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) Applications project (Escobar-2013) that assesses, identifies, and appropriately links existing decision support processes and policies to CMS carbon science. This CMS Applications effort aims to serve as a vehicle for facilitating and translating critical NASA science into decision support systems, establishing the science maturity and application readiness for NASA Headquarters and clearly stating the impact of CMS science to society for Congress. The partnerships fostered though this effort will lead to better utilization of NASA CMS data products, in turn leading to positive financial and societal outcomes. Our proposed work is highly relevant to the following activities listed as priorities for this call: 1) understanding and engaging the user community for carbon monitoring products; 2) evaluating current and planned NASA CMS products with regard to their value for decision making by identified users and to assist in having existing products used for stakeholder activities; 3) conducting MRV-related work in support of international REDD or REDD+ projects, as well as studies of stakeholder interests; 4) assessing the NASA CMS applications program though a 'lessons learned' document which evaluates the number of potential and actual CMS data users.  During the next phase of funding our team will focus efforts on several fronts. First, we will continue to develop the translation tools created during the Escobar-2013 project, and relate CMS product capabilities to stakeholder needs through the use tutorials, short science articles, white papers, and policy briefs. that identify thematic opportunities, identify data gaps and sync the CMS science research to the beneficiary of the data (stakeholder). Workshops events and the CMS Policy Speaker Series will continue to serve as tools for highlighting carbon relevant policies and identifying the science needs of operational organizations. Furthermore, we will develop a systematic evaluation of these workshops and policy series with follow-up surveys and reports in an effort to assess the societal relevance of our activities. Our team will conduct science policy bridging with organizations such as (but not limited to) RGGI, EPA, USGS, 3DEP, USGCRP, Chesapeake Bay Restoration Program, USDA Environmental Markets and the Department of Natural Resources for Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Sonoma County, CA and USGCRP. These partners were identified in the Escobar 2013 Applications work and a clear understanding of their needs and objectives will be expanded on for the 2016 efforts. We will also collaborate closely with the Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group of the U.S Global Change Research Program, and contribute to carbon-related reports, such as the SOCCR-2 and the Fourth National Climate Assessment. Of equal importance is merging the diversity of the CMS Initiative with ongoing and future NASA missions and programs. These cross-mission collaborations are essential for broadening the reach and relevance of CMS science. The proposed CMS Applications effort will leverage opportunities with newer missions like SMAP and OCO-2 while also planning for future synergy with ICESat-2, NISAR and ASCENDS. Finally, research to assess the impact and value of the CMS data in specific case studies will be conducted in collaboration with the Joint Global Change Research Institute (JGCRI), collaboration between the U.S DoE Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and the University of Maryland at College Park.

Publications:

Brown, M. E., Cooper, M. W., Griffith, P. C. 2020. NASA's carbon monitoring system (CMS) and arctic-boreal vulnerability experiment (ABoVE) social network and community of practice. Environmental Research Letters. 15(11), 115014. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/aba300

Brown, M. E., Ihli, M., Hendrick, O., Delgado-Arias, S., Escobar, V. M., Griffith, P. 2016. Social network and content analysis of the North American Carbon Program as a scientific community of practice. Social Networks. 44, 226-237. DOI: 10.1016/j.socnet.2015.10.002

Kaushik, A., Graham, J., Dorheim, K., Kramer, R., Wang, J., Byrne, B. 2020. The Future of the Carbon Cycle in a Changing Climate. Eos. 101. DOI: 10.1029/2020EO140276

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

• North American Carbon Program (NACP) Project Profile
• NASA Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) Project Profile