Science-based credibility and carbon decision support,

using FIA data

Linda S. Heath

Forest Carbon Accounting

and Research

NRS-FIA

Durham, NH

Science-based credibility

--peer-reviewed publications

--”expert” review

Decision support

-- credibility to users?

A factoid quiz

On average, over the years 2001-2006, forests offset what percent of emissions in the United States?

A. 18%

B. 14%

C. 11%

On average, over the years 2001-2006, net sequestration in forests ecosystems, harvested wood products, and urban forests offset:

A. 18% of emissions from fossil fuel combustion and IF count contribution of wood burned for energy

B. 14% of emissions from fossil fuel combustion, or emissions of all greenhouse gases IF count wood burned for energy

C. 11% of emissions of all greenhouse gases (in terms of CO2 eq.)

Total emissions CO2 eq. 7,027

Only CO2 emissions 5,967

Fossil fuel combustion 5,623

Forest ecosystems -611

Products/Landfills -102

Urban forests -90

Emissions from wood burned for energy

199

Source: US EPA (2008)

0

100

200

300

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

CO

2 e

mis

sio

ns

(T

g)

Source: US EPA (2008) – Heath and Smith (in prep)

CO2 emissions from forest fires

Study: Ken Brewer and others (FS Remote Sensing Applications Center) planned finish date 2011

Why would the FS be interested in C accounting at the national-level?

• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks Inventories– Like 140 other nations, the US ratified the

UNFCCC and promised, by law, to report their GHG emissions and sinks annually.

– US Environmental Protection Agency is the lead agency for this, but we (the FS) provide the official forest ecosystem and harvested wood statistics and have done this “forever”

UNFCCC Reporting – still evolving

• Beginning 1990, every year, managed forests

• Consistency

• Moving toward full land representation (forest, cropland, grassland, wetland, settlement, other)

• Uncertainties required

UNFCCC Reporting – still evolving

• Be able to report subcategories (nonforest becoming forest, forest remaining forest)

• Transparency, verification, accuracy, precision, cost

UNFCCC reviews of inventory

CarbonTrackCarbonTracker Resulter Result

Weekly gridded product at 1x1 degree with error estimate, freely available on web with code, data, docs

Source: Scott Denning

CarbonTracker ResultsCarbonTracker Results

• The Vulcan inventory represents the US fossil fuel CO2 emissions for the year 2002 at a spatial scale that is less than 10 km and hourly.

• Detailed documentation at http://www.purdue.edu/eas/carbon/vulcan.

Tools with output at various scales

• Forest Stand

• Landscape

• County

• State

• Region or ecoregion

• National

FVS-CGTR-343

COLECCTFORCARB2

To access tools go to http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/carbon/tools

Source: Smith and others. NRS-13