The accurate assessment of the magnitude and location of the terrestrial carbon sink and its evolution under a changing climate is paramount for any efficient carbon management strategy. The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has shown that the terrestrial biosphere is currently a strong sink for anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Through the radiative properties of CO2, the strength of this sink has a direct influence on the radiative budget of the global climate system. While simulations of carbon and water fluxes with terrestrial biosphere models exhibit large uncertainties, systematic use of observational information has great potential to reduce them (see, e.g. Rayner et al., 2005, Scholze et al., 2007, or Kaminski et al., 2012).
The key objective of this study is to develop two global-scale carbon cycle data assimilation systems (CCDAS) and apply them to quantify the added value of three Earth Observation data streams:
A second objective is to provide an integrated view of the carbon cycle constrained through simultaneous assimilation of multiple data streams and to derive a spatially explicit, data-constrained carbon balance. Results are intended to inform annual reports by the Global Carbon Project.
The project began in November 2012 and is funded by the European Space Agency.
This site is the central point for dissemination of project results. A first overview paper was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research. Further publications and presentations are listed on the Publications page.
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