Investigating the Carbon Cycle in Terrestrial Ecosystems (ICCTE) A joint program between: The...

Investigating the Carbon Cycle in Terrestrial Ecosystems (ICCTE)

A joint program between:

The University of New Hampshire, USA

AND

Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

The Carbon Cycle Science Team

Scott Ollinger

Sarah SilverbergRita Freuder

Annette Schloss

Bobby BraswellMary Martin

Jana Albrechtova

Carbon: A building block of life

What is C Why is C important How is C measured How YOU can measure C

•The most abundant element in living things

•Accounts for 45-50% of the total mass of plants and animals.

•Also present in the Earth’s land, atmosphere and oceans

Carbon dioxide is the primary greenhouse gasCarbon dioxide is the primary greenhouse gas

The Greenhouse Effect


The Global Carbon Cycle


Mauna Loa Hawaii Atmospheric CO2 Record

310

320

330

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370

1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005

Atm

osp

heri

c C

O2 (

ppm

v)

Keeling & Whorf 1998

Level of Certainty: 100%

Changing Atmospheric Conditions

What is C? Why is C important ? How is C measured? How YOU can measure C?

Projected Increases in CO2

What is C Why is C important How is C measured Future scenarios

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200

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450

500

550

600

650

700

CO

2 C

on

ce

ntr

ati

on

(p

pm

v)

Projected (2100)

0100,000200,000300,000400,000

Current (2001)

Vostok Record

IPCC IS92a ScenarioLaw Dome Record

Mauna Loa Record

Vostok Record

Mauna Loa Record

IPCC IS92a Scenario

FLUXNET


•Global network of flux towers that are used to measure CO2 exchange between ecosystems and the atmosphere.

•Developed to better understand carbon cycling globally. •Sites also include measurements on vegetation, soils, hydrology and meteorology.

•Information available to both researchers and the public.

North American Carbon Program (NACP)


•IESSP

•NACP builds on FLUXNET to further understand sources and sinks of the carbon cycle.

•4 levels of resolution or tiers•Tier 1: small scale, extremely high resolution, flux towers•Tier 2: small scale, annual, large variety of measurements•Tier 3: larger scale, decadal, basic biometrics, (build on long term datasets)•Tier 4: large spatial extent through mapping and remote sensing

•Field measurements (Tiers 2&3) can then be used to validate flux tower and remote sensing data

Eddy Covariance COEddy Covariance CO22 Exchange Method Exchange Method

Wind direction Turbulent eddies

Carbon at the Local Scale


MAPBGCMAPBGC

AVIRISAVIRIS EO-1EO-1HyperionHyperion

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00Field Measured %N

AV

IRIS

Pre

dic

ted

%N

R2 = 0.84

AVIRIS Foliar NPredicted vs. Observed

Remote Sensing of Foliar Nitrogen


•Remote sensing of chlorophyll, foliar nitrogen, and leaf area index is correlated to field measurements.

•When these leaf traits are remotely sensed you can estimate net primary productivity (carbon uptake) across regions and the world.

• Models help us synthesize knowledge.

• Identify gaps in current knowledge and guide future research.

• Models can be used to conduct experiments that are not possible in real-world settings.

• Field measurements drive the models so they come close to making accurate predictions

The Role of Models in Ecological Analysis


Existing and New Protocols


Existing protocols to be used in ICCTE New protocols to be designed Land Cover Land cover Biometry

Plant Biomass and Productivity Site level biometry Use of equations to estimate productivity

Phenology Budburst Green-up Green-down

Leaf Traits Leaf chlorophyll concentration Leaf nitrogen concentration Specific leaf weight (leaf density)

Soils Soil characterization

Hand held device that uses reflectance bands similar to remote sensing to measure leaf chlorophyll content

Established equations relate chlorophyll to foliar nitrogen

Learning Activities for Students


•Ecological measurements related to plant biomass, nutrient status and growth rate.

•Simple observation of different types of vegetation in the schoolyard

•Does different vegetation store different amounts of C?

•How does the growth rate of the vegetation affect C exchange with the atmosphere?

Biometry measurements

Leaf collection



•Exercises that lead students to connect rates of carbon cycling within ecosystems with rates of carbon emissions associated with various human activities.

•Including a computer game for elementary students

•How much C is stored in one tree? How much C is stored in all the trees in our school site?

•How much CO2 is emitted by my transportation to school everyday?

•How much CO2 is emitted to heat or cool our school building?



•A remote sensing toolkit that allows students to use GLOBE data to estimate C budgets at local and continental spatial scales.

•Our group has an existing website that takes large quantities of data and images and makes them accessible and easy to use for the public

http://eos-webster.sr.unh.edu

http://eos-webster.sr.unh.edu/home.jsp

http://eos-webster.sr.unh.edu/home.jsp

http://eos-webster.sr.unh.edu/newcomers.jsp

http://eos-webster.sr.unh.edu/data/SR.jsp

http://eos-webster.sr.unh.edu/registration.jsp

http://eos-webster.sr.unh.edu/user_support.jsp?masthead=/masthead_information.jsp

http://eos-webster.sr.unh.edu/climate_change.jsp



•A simple ecosystem computer model designed to allow students to use their own measurements to estimate a C budget for their field site.

Leaf collections

Tree measurements

Live foliage chemistry

Green up & Green down



•A set of exercises involving data from FLUXNET that will introduce advance technological methods and improve quantitative skills.

•An opportunity to ask questions about differences between different sites:

•Why is C exchange higher in Spain than South Africa?

•How do C estimates at my school site compare to those measured across the globe?

We are Excited to Join the GLOBE Team!


[email protected]

[email protected]

Winter 1998

The Pulse of the Planet: Estimated Chlorophyll Concentration

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1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

Year

Atm

os

ph

eri

c C

O2

(pp

m)

SeaWiFS Satellite Data

Summer 1998

The Pulse of the Planet: Estimated Chlorophyll Concentration

310

320

330

340

350

360

370

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

Year

Atm

os

ph

eri

c C

O2

(pp

m)

SeaWiFS Satellite Data

Temperature Changes Mirror Changes in CO2


Atm

osp

heri

c C

O2 (

pp

m)

400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000 0

Years Before Present

Vostok Ice Core CO2 Record

420,000 years ago to the present

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250

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350

Barnola et al. 1999

Present (2001)

400

Ice Core Data

Mauna Loa Record

Inter-Glacial Maximum

Glacial Minimum

Atmospheric CO2 Over Geological Time Scales


“Planet Earth Has Entered a NEW Era That Has No Historical

Precedent”Berrien Moore III Chairman International Global Biosphere ProgramDirector Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space

“The Earth’s Climate System is an Angry Beast and We are Poking it

with Sticks”Wallace Broeker Columbia University, Lamont Doherty Geological Observatory

Investigating the Carbon Cycle in Terrestrial Ecosystems (ICCTE) A joint program between: The...

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