a large carbon sink in the woody biomass of northern forests

Title

Myneni, Dong

department of geography, boston university, 675 commonwealth av., boston, ma 02215, usa nasa goddard space flight center, code 923, greenbelt, md 20771, usa department of limnology and environmental protection, university of helsinki, fin-00014 helsinki, finland european forest institute, and department of forest ecology, university of helsinki, fin-00014 helsinki, finland department of geography, boston university, 675 commonwealth av., boston, ma 02215, usa department of geography, boston university, 675 commonwealth av., boston, ma 02215, usa the saint-petersburg forest ecological center, 21 institutskii av. st.petersburg, 194021 russia laboratory of tree-ring research, university of arizona, tucson, az 85721, usa

Tucker
Kauppi Liski Kaufmann

Zhou
Alexeyev Hughes

work funded by nasa earth science enterprise

boston university
1

abstract

The terrestrial carbon sink, as of yet unidentified, represents 15 to 30% of annual global emissions of carbon from fossil fuels and industrial activities. Some of the missing carbon is sequestered in vegetation biomass and, under the Kyoto Protocol of the UNFCCC, industrialized nations can use certain forest biomass sinks to meet their greenhouse gas emissions reduction commitments.

Abstract

abstract

Therefore, we analyzed 19 years of data from remote-sensing spacecraft and forest inventories to identify the size and location of such sinks. The results, which cover the years 1981-99, reveal a picture of biomass carbon gains in Eurasian boreal and North American temperate forests and losses in some Canadian boreal forests. For the 1.42 billion hectares of northern forests, roughly above the 30th parallel, we estimate the biomass sink to be 0.68 0.34 billion tons carbon per year, of which nearly 70% is in Eurasia, in proportion to its forest area and in disproportion to its biomass carbon pool. The relatively high spatial resolution of these estimates permits direct validation with ground data and contributes to a monitoring program of forest biomass sinks under the Kyoto protocol.

motivation

Motivation

About 1 to 2 giga (109) tons of carbon (gt c) a year are suggested to be somehow sequestered in pools on land in the temperate and boreal regions.1

motivation

Debate is currently underway regarding which of the forest biomass sinks can be used by the Annex 1 parties, the industrialized nations, to meet their greenhouse gas emissions reduction commitments under the kyoto protocol of the united nations framework convention on climate change. Thus, characterizing the location and mechanism of carbon sinks is of scientific and political importance.
1. Bousquet, P., Peylin, P., Ciais, P., Qu\'er\'e, C.L., Friedlingstein, P. & Tans, P.P. (2000) Science 290, 1342-1346.

introduction

Land carbon pool

- vegetation - detritus - black carbon residue from fires - soil - harvested products, etc.

Carbon on land is contained in various pools such as,1

land
carbon pools

This study is limited to analysis of the carbon pool in the woody biomass of temperate and boreal forests of the northern hemisphere, which cover an area of about 1.4 to 1.5 billion hectares.2

1. Schulze, E.-D., Wirth, C. and Heimann, M. (2000), Science, 289:2058-2059. 2. Liski, J. and Kauppi, P. (2000), in Forest Resources of Europe, CIS, North America, Australia, Japan and New Zealand (industrialized temperate/boreal countries), UN-ECE/FAO contributions to the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000, (United Nations, New York), pp. 155-171.

definitions (1 of 2)

Forest
- broad leaf forests - needle leaf forests - mixed forests - woody savannas

We define forests as the following remote sensing land covers

forests

this land cover definition is broadly consistent with land use definitions of a forest but not of forest and other wooded land used by the FAO.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60

forest fraction (% of pixel area)

definitions (2 of 2)

Woody biomass
- wood - twigs - bark - stumps - branches - roots

woody biomass

Woody biomass consists of

of live trees, shrubs and bushes.

The vegetation pool

gains carbon from productivity investment in these components loses carbon due to - aging - mortality - disease - harvest - insect attacks - fire - windthrow

data (1 of 9)

Data

Forest biomass cannot be directly measured from space yet.

remote
sensing of biomass

Year-to-year changes in biomass are quite small, about two orders of magnitude smaller than the biomass pool. At decadal and longer time scales, the biomass changes can be considerable due to accrual of differences between gains and losses. Potentially, these can be observed as low frequency variations in climatological greenness, in much the same way as greenness changes at century and longer time scales are suggestive of successional changes.

data: satellite (2 of 9)

Satellite data
processing included - cloud screening - calibration - El Chichon & Mt. Pinatubo corrections - research quality assessed1
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) satellite data

- global - 15-day maximum value composite - 8 km resolution - july 1981 to december 1999

average greenness (81-99)

1. Zhou et al. (2001), J. Geophys. Res., 106(D17): 20069-20083.

data: satellite (3 of 9)

Satellite data

climatological
seasonal greenness total

In regions of distinct seasonality, as in the north, the cumulative growing season NDVI succinctly captures both the average seasonal level of greenness and the growing season duration, and is therefore an ideal measure of seasonal vegetation greenness. We assume that climatological seasonal greenness total to be a surrogate for biomass in these northern forests.
-7.5

-2.5
0 5 10 15 20 25

change in NDVI total per year (80s &90s)

data: inventory (4 of 9)

Inventory data
We analyzed 1980s and 90s inventory data of stem wood volume from 171 provinces in six countries (Canada, Finland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and USA) covering over one billion hectares (ha) of northern temperate and boreal forests. The inventory data were converted to above-stump and total biomass using country specific coefficients.1 These data represent a wide variety of inventory practices, provincial forest area, ecosystem types, age structures, fire and insect dynamics, management practices and time periods.

forest inventory

data

1. Liski, J. & Kauppi, P. (2000) in Forest Resources of Europe, CIS, North America, Australia, Japan and New Zealand (industrialized temperate/boreal countries), UN-ECE/FAO contributions to the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000, (United Nations, New York), pp. 155-171.

10

data: inventory (5 of 9)

Forest area distribution

About 54% of the provinces had forested area less than 1.5 million ha (37% less than 625 thousand ha). About 27% had area greater than 5 million ha (12% greater than 20 million ha).
30

provincial
forest area distribution
Frequency (%)

20

10

0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 0 1 2 3 4 5

provincial forest area (million ha)

11

data: inventory (6 of 9)

Forest area by genus

forest
area by genus

The dominant forest type is needle leaf (spruce, pine, fir and other conifers in Canada, >60%; larch, pine, spruce in Russia, > 70%; spruce and pine in Finland, Norway and Sweden, 70-90%). The area of broad leaves (mostly oak) in the USA is comparable to that of needle leaves (pine, fir and spruce), about 40%.
Not stocked (1.56%)

Others (5.55%0
Larch (0.53%)

USA
Oak (37.1%)

Fir (11.3%) Birch (8.02%) Spruce (8.93%) pine (27%)

0 50 100 150 200

forest area (million ha)

12

data: inventory (7 of 9)

forest
area by
0

Unclassified (15.3%) Unspecified broadleaves (5.08%) Other broadleaves (2.1%) Maple (2.66%) Birch (3.87%) Polar (7.85%) Unspecified conifers (6.06%) Other conifers (1.49 %) Larch 0.38%) Hemlock (1.99%) Fir (8.5%) Spruce (26.3%) 20 Pine (16.3%) 40 60

Canada

80

100

genus
Others (11.6%) Aspen (2.4%) Oak (1.3%) Fir (2.2%)
Birch (12.9%)

Russia
Larch (37.1%)

Spruce (10.8%) Pine (21.7%)

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

forest area (million ha)

13

data: inventory (8 of 9)

forest
age structure

About 40% of the forest area in Canada and 55% in Russia is under mature and over mature forests.The area under immature forests in Canada is about 30% (23% middle-aged forests in Russia). The forest area under regression is less than 10% in Canada (20% in Russia). Thus, in a broad sense, the Canadian and Russian forest age structure are comparable. In the USA, fully three fourths of the forest area is under forests younger than 85 years.
100

Age structure

Forest area (million ha)

80 60 40 20 0 0-20 20-50

USA

All species Pine Oak Birch Fir Spruce Others

50-85

85-120

>120

years

14

data: inventory (9 of 9)

400

forest area (million ha)

300 200 100 0 Early

All species Pine Spruce Larch Fir Birch

Russia

forest
age structure

Advanced

Middle-aged

Premature

Mature

forest area (million ha)

100
80 60 40 20 0 Regeneration Immature

Canada

Mature Overmature Unclassfied

15

methods: GIS (1 of 5)

GIS-1

matching inventory and ndvi data

The methodology is illustrated here, using Sweden as an example. Sweden spans a latitude range of about 55N to 70N, with 24 provinces for which the inventory data are available (Fig. 1). The data reported are stem wood volume (106 m3) and forest area (103 ha) for various tree types and trunk size classes. A remote sensing land cover map is required to match these provincial inventory estimates to NDVI data (Fig. 2). This map is at a spatial resolution of 1x1 km.1 Forests are defined as the following remote sensing land covers: broad leaf and needle leaf forests, mixed forests and woody savannas.

1. Hansen, M.C., DeFries, R.S., Townshend, J.R.G. and Sohlberg, R.(2000), Int. J. Remote Sens., 21, 1331-1364.

16

methods: GIS (2 of 5)

matching inventory and ndvi data

(1) (2)
evergreen needleleaf forests evergreen broadleaf forests deciduous needle forests deciduous broadleaf forests mixed forests woody savannas savannas closed shrublands open shrublands grasslands croplands barren

17

methods: GIS (3 of 5)

GIS-2

matching inventory and ndvi data

For each province, in a geographical information system, we evaluate the cumulative growing season greenness from NDVI data layers, by averaging over forest pixels, as identified from the land cover map. This assures that the resulting provincial cumulative growing season greenness is assembled from NDVI data of forested regions only. The degree to which total forest area estimates from inventory and remote sensing match, provides some confidence in both inventory and remote sensing data.

18

methods: GIS (4 of 5)

Forest and land area in each province

Remote sensing estimates Inventory report (1982-86) Inventory report (1993-97) Area (million ha)

matching inventory and ndvi data

Area (million ha) 8 6 4 2

Forest

0 10

Land

Nbtn Vbtn Jmtl Vnrl Gavl Kopp Vrml Oreb Vstm Upps Sthm Sadm Ostg Skbg Alvs Jkpg Kron Kalm Gotl Gtbg Hall Blek Skan

0 5

19

methods: GIS (5 of 5)

GIS-3
(1)

matching inventory and ndvi data

The inventory stem wood volume data are converted to total and above stump biomass, and then plotted against the provincial growing season cumulative NDVI, as in Fig. 1. A similar plot for Russia is shown in Fig. 2.

(2)

20

methods: regression model (1 of 4)

Regression relation

ndvi biomass relation

Satellite and inventory data shown below (without outliers) were transformed to estimate a statistically significant relation between biomass and seasonal greenness totals. 1/Biomass = a + [(1/NDVI)/Latitude2] + g Latitude
Biomass: inventory estimate of biomass (tons/ha) NDVI: cumulative growing season NDVI averaged over a five year period prior to inventory date Latitude: the centriod of the area sampled by forest inventory in a province a, and g: regression coefficients

21

methods: regression model (2 of 4)

ndvi biomass relation

22

methods: regression model (3 of 4)

ndvi biomass relation

23

methods: regression model (4 of 4)

statistical tests

There is a statistically meaningful relation between NDVI and biomass in nearly every nation and sample period. There is statistically meaningful relation between biomass and NDVI for values of NDVI that exceed 80. The relation between NDVI and biomass for values of NDVI above 80 is not statistically different from the relation between NDVI and biomass for values of NDVI equal to or less than 80. There is a relation between NDVI and biomass for nearly all values for NDVI. There is a statistically meaningful relation between NDVI and biomass, regardless of latitude. The spatial relation between biomass and NDVI in Sweden is not statistically different from the temporal relation between biomass and NDVI in Sweden. Tests indicate that it is highly unlikely that the size the carbon sink reported in the text is a statistical artifact of uncertainty regarding the relation between biomass and NDVI.

Regression tests

24

results: spatial patterns (1 of 8)

spatial
pattern of

Because of their high spatial resolution, relative to provincial inventory measurements, biomass estimates from satellite data provide spatial detail of the carbon pool and where changes in the pool have occurred. To document these regional features, we evaluated forest woody biomass carbon pools during the early 1980s (198286) and late 1990s (1995-99) with the regression model and pixel-level NDVI data. Changes in the carbon pool were then evaluated as simply the difference between these two pool estimates, pixel-by-pixel, and quoted on a per year basis.

pools

25

results: spatial patterns (2 of 8)

Pool pattern

spatial
pattern of

The biomass map indicates larger average pools, in tons C/ha, in North America compared to Eurasia (51vs. 39). The average pool size in Europe and the USA is larger than in Canada and Russia (54-58 vs. 38-44). Amongst the European countries, Austria, France and Germany have notably large average pools (60, 67 and 73, respectively). The estimates for Finland, Norway and Sweden are comparable to Russia (35-40 vs. 38).

pools
0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Carbon Pool (tons C/ha)

1995 to 1999

26

results: spatial patterns (3 of 8)

Canada (pool)

pool
pattern in

canada

10

20

30 40

50 60

area: 239.5 Mha pool size: 10.56 Gt C

Carbon Pool (tons C/ha) 1995 to 1999

sink: 0.073 Gt C/yr

27

results: spatial patterns (4 of 8)

USA (pool)

pool
pattern in the

usa
area: 215.5 Mha pool size: 12.48 Gt C
Carbon Pool (tons C/ha) 1995 to 1999

10

20

30 40

50 60

sink: 0.142 Gt C/yr

28

results: spatial patterns (5 of 8)

Russia (pool)

pool
pattern in

russia
0 10 20 30 40 50 60

area: 642.2 Mha pool size: 24.39 Gt C sink: 0.284 Gt C/yr

Carbon Pool (tons C/ha)

1995 to 1999

29

results: spatial patterns (6 of 8)

Europe (pool)

area: 161.1 Mha

pool
pattern in

pool size: 8.71 Gt C

sink: 0.136 Gt C/yr

europe
0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Carbon Pool (tons C/ha)

1995 to 1999

30

results: spatial patterns (7 of 8)

China & japan (pool)

pool
pattern in china

japan
area: 161.6 Mha pool size: 4.58 Gt C

10

20

30 40

50 60

sink: 0.05054 Gt C/yr

Carbon Pool (tons C/ha) 1995 to 1999

31

results: spatial patterns (8 of 8)

Carbon gains, in excess of 0.3 tons C/ha/yr, are seen in Eurasian boreal and
spatial
pattern of pool
North American temperate forests. The gains are observed in Eurasia over a large, broad, nearly contiguous swath of land, from Sweden, through Finland, European Russia, central Siberia to trans-Baikalia In North America, similarly large gains are seen in the eastern temperate forests of the USA and in southern Ontario and Quebec below the 50th parallel. Carbon losses, greater than 0.1 tons C/ha/yr, are seen in Canadian boreal forests, from Newfoundland to Northwest territories, except in smaller fragments in northern Saskatchewan and Alberta, where gains are observed.

Pool changes

changes

-0.3

0 Source

0.3 Sinks

0.6

0.9

Changes in Carbon Pool (tons C/ha/yr) 1980s & 90s

32

results: uncertainties (1 of 3)

The average absolute difference between remote sensing

and inventory estimates is (next two slides)
uncertainties
in remote sensing
10.4 tons C/ha for above-stump biomass (27%) 16.1 tons C/ha for total biomass (33%) 0.33 tons C/ha/yr for changes in pool size (50%)

Uncertainty

There is no bias in the estimation of biomass pools and

changes to the pools.

estimates

The national inventory sink estimates were derived from

wood volume increment and loss data (natural and fellings), unlike remote sensing estimates which are biomass differences between two time periods. The comparability of the two estimates is thus noteworthy.

33

results: uncertainties (2 of 3)

uncertainties
in remote sensing

estimates

34

results: uncertainties (3 of 3)

uncertainties
in remote sensing

estimates

35

results: pool estimates (1 of 3)

Countrywise (pool)

We estimate the carbon pool in the woody biomass of 1420 million hectares (Mha) of temperate and boreal forests in the northern hemisphere to be 61 20 Gt C during the late 1990s.

NH pool estimate

This is comparable to the TBFRA-2000 which reports a carbon pool

of 80 Gt C, but on 2477 Mha of forests and other wooded land.

Both these estimates are considerably lower than the estimate, 147
Gt C on 2410 Mha of forests and other wooded land, quoted by the IPCC.1

Earlier studies may have overestimated carbon pools possibly

because of unrepresentative samples, which tend to bias towards sites with larger than average pools. If this has occurred for tropical forests and savannas, the current estimate of global vegetation carbon pool, 466 Gt C, may also be too large.1

1. IPCC, 2000, Land use, Land-use change, and Forestry, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom.

36

results: spatial pattern (12of 3) results: pool estimates (2 of 12)

Countrywise (pool)

country pool estimates

The average pool size in Europe and the USA is

larger than in Canada and Russia (54-58 vs. 38-44). Amongst the European countries, Austria, France and Germany have notably large pools (60, 67 and 73, respectively).

The estimates for Finland, Norway and Sweden are

comparable to Russia (35-40 vs. 38).

37

results: pool estimates (3 of 3)

country pool estimates

38

results: sink estimates (1 of 2)

Countrywise (Sink)
the 1980s and 90s is 0.680.34 Gt C/yr.

Our estimate for the woody biomass sink during

NH sink estimates

This is in the mid-range of estimates by Sedjo1 for

mid-1980s (0.36 Gt C/yr) and TBFRA-20002 for early and mid-1990s (0.81 Gt C/yr).

1. Sedjo, R.A., 1992, Ambio, 21: 274-277. 2. Liski, J. & Kauppi, P., 2000, in Forest Resources of Europe, CIS, North America, Australia, Japan and New Zealand (industrialized temperate/boreal countries), UN-ECE/FAO contributions to the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000, United Nations, New York, pp. 155-171.

39

results: sink estimates (2 of 2)

It is instructive to compare the sink estimates of North

eurasia vs.
north america

North amer. & euriasia

America and Eurasia in view of a large terrestrial North American sink and weak Eurasian sink reported for the 198892 time period.1

The average sequestration rate, in tons C/ha/yr, is highest in

Europe (0.84) and the USA (0.66), and least in Canada and China (0.27-0.31), with values for Russia in between (0.44). Consequently, the average sequestration rate is comparable between North America and Eurasia, (0.47-0.49), unlike the average pool sizes (51 vs. 39 tons C/ha).

Thus, nearly 70% of the biomass sink is in Eurasia (0.47

Gt C/yr), in proportion to its forest area and in disproportion to its pool size.
1. Fan et al., 1998, Science, 282: 442-446.

40

results: country estimates (1 of 6)

Canadian estimates
For Canada, we estimate a sink of about 0.073 Gt C/yr, which is

The estimates of the three large countries, Canada, Russia and the USA, are crucial to overall accuracy because they account for 78% of the pool, 73% of the sink and 77% of the forest area.

The losses observed in some Canadian boreal forests are consistent with
canadian estimates
reports of disturbances from fires and insects during the 1980s and 90s.

comparable to an inventory estimate by the Canadian Forest Service (0.091 Gt C/yr). 1

1. Canadian Forest Service, The State of Canada's Forests 1993, Nat. Resour. Can., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

41

results: country estimates (2 of 6)

Our pool, sink and forest area estimates for the USA are comparable to TBFRA2000 estimates.

USA estimates

usa estimates

Our sink estimate for the USA (0.142 Gt C/yr) is comparable to most estimates for the 1980s (0.02-0.15 Gt C/yr).

Our pool (10.6 Gt C) and forest area (239 Mha) estimates for the late 1990s are also comparable to the TBFRA-2000 estimates (11.9 Gt C and 244 Mha).

42

results: country estimates (3 of 6)

russian estimates

Estimates for Russia differ. The remote sensing estimate of forest area, 642 Mha, is about 130-180 Mha lower, possibly due to the resolution of satellite data, which may be too coarse for detecting

Russia estmates

tree stands in the forest-tundra of Russia, where small lots of sparse stands with extremely low growing stock are distributed between the vast peatlands. When expressed on per ha forest area basis,
o The various pool estimates are comparable (38-43 tons C/ha). o The difference in sink estimates between remote sensing and TBFRA-2000 is smaller (0.44 vs. 0.53; in tons C/ha/yr).

43

results: country estimates (4 of 6)

sinks (Mt C/yr)
0 Russia* USA Canada 50 100 150 200 250 300

annex 1
annex 1 countries#

countries: sinks

Sweden Germany Japan Italy France Romania Spain Poland Turkey Finland UK Bulgaria Austria Belarus* Czech* Norway Greece Portugal Latvia* Ukraine* Switzerland Lithuania* Estonia* Hungary Belgium Netherlands Denmark
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16

#Australia,

Iceland,

Ireland, Luxembourg, New Zealand are not included.

44

results: country estimates (5 of 6)

sinks to emissions
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 Sweden Latvia* Russia* Canada Finland Norway Lithuania* Austria Portugal Estonia* Bulgaria Romania Turkey Belarus* Greece Spain Switzerland USA Italy Czech* France Poland Hungary Germany Japan UK Ukraine* Denmark Belgium Netherlands

annex 1 countries: sinks to emissions ratio

annex 1 countries#

*Annual mean emissions are from 1992 to 1998. The others are from 1982 to 1998.
#Australia,

Iceland,

Ireland, Luxembourg, New Zealand are not included.

45

results: country estimates (6 of 6)

sinks to emissions per capita (10-8 )
0 Latvia* Estonia* Sweden Norway Finland Lithuania* Austria Bulgaria Portugal Canada Belarus* Switzerland Greece Czech* Romania Hungary Russia* Spain Turkey Italy Poland Denmark France Belgium Germany UK USA Japan Netherlands Ukraine* 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

annex 1 countries: sinks to emissions per capita

annex 1 countries#

*Annual mean emissions are from 1992 to 1998. The others are from 1982 to 1998.
#Australia,

Iceland,

Ireland, Luxembourg, New Zealand are not included.

46

discussion: reasons (1 of 6)

Reasons

The reasons for the observed changes in the forest woody biomass pool are not known. reasons This implies uncertainty regarding the future of biomass sinks and therefore the need for monitoring. But, the spatial patterns offer some clues. o Woody encroachment and longer growing seasons from warming in the northern latitudes possibly explain some of the changes, and

47

discussion: reasons (2 of 6)

Canada (sink)

o Increased incidence of fires and infestations in Canada.

pool
changes in

canada

-0.3

0 Source

0.3 Sinks

0.6

0.9

Changes in Carbon Pool (tons C/ha/yr) 1980s & 90s

48

discussion: reasons (3 of 6)

USA (sink)

o Fire suppression and forest regrowth in the USA.

pool
changes in

usa

-0.3

0 Source

0.3 Sinks

0.6

0.9

Changes in Carbon Pool (tons C/ha/yr) 1980s & 90s

49

discussion: reasons (4 of 6)

Russia (sink)

o Declining harvests in Russia.

pool
changes in

russia

-0.3

0 Source

0.3 Sinks

0.6

0.9

Changes in Carbon Pool (tons C/ha/yr) 1980s & 90s

50

discussion: reasons (5 of 6)

Europe (sink)

o Improved silviculture in the Nordic countries.

pool
changes in

europe

-0.3

0 Source

0.3 Sinks

0.6

0.9

Changes in Carbon Pool (tons C/ha/yr) 1980s & 90s

51

discussion: reasons (6 of 6)

o Forest expansion (afforestation and reforestation) and regrowth.1

pool
changes in china

japan

-0.3

0 Source

0.3 Sinks

0.6

0.9

Changes in Carbon Pool (tons C/ha/yr) 1980s & 90s

1. Fang, J., Chen, A., Peng, C., Zhao, S., and Ci, L. (2001), Changes in forest biomass carbon storage in China between 1949 and 1998, Science, 292:2320-2322.

52

discussion: limitations (1 of 1)

Limitations
o Residual atmospheric effects and calibration errors in satellite data cannot be ruled out. o Uncertainties in inventory data are country-specific and difficult to quantify. o Simple models are used to convert wood volume and greenness data to biomass. o The differences in forest area estimates between remote sensing and inventories are not easy to reconcile because of definition issues.

How robust are these results?

limitations

All of this suggests a cautionary reading of the results and need for further research.

53

discussion: contributions (1 of 1)

Contributions
It provides spatial detail of the biomass carbon pool and where changes in this pool have occurred at a resolution that permits direct validation with ground data. The NDVI data when used in inversion studies provide additional constraints to inferences of source/sink distribution from atmospheric CO2 and isotopic concentration data. The inversion studies cannot partition the inferred sink between vegetation, soil and other pools. For example, if the vegetation is a sink and the soil is a source, estimates of vegetation pool changes would complement inversion results. Debate is currently underway regarding which of the forest biomass sinks can be used by the Annex 1 parties, the industrialized nations, to meet their greenhouse gas emissions reduction commitments under the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Satellite estimates of biomass changes can be an important component of carbon accounting for verification of compliance, if the uncertainty of these estimates can be further reduced.

This work contributes to global carbon cycle research in four ways.

o

contributions

Improved observations of greenness levels from a new generation of spacecraft sensors such as the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer and multiangle imaging spectroradiometer, and possibly direct biomass measurements with lidars, offer promise for the future.

54