30-year re-analysis of CARBON fluxES and pools over Europe and the globe (CARBONES)

Description:

CARBONES proposes a novel approach for quantifying and understanding CO2 surface fluxes in response to a strong need for detailed information of CO2 fluxes and carbon pools. CARBONES aims to provide a calibrated 30-year long re-analysis of space and time variations of carbon fluxes and pools over Europe and the globe, consistent with all available in situ and satellite data. Products will be tailored to be used by the IPCC climate modellers for testing and improving their simulations of the future evolution of the coupled climate-carbon cycle system. This overall objective will be reached through nine scientific and technical targets, that make the project endeavour realistic, measurable and successful within a three-year time frame. 1.Analysing user needs: involve climate and earth system modellers for product definition, service design and demonstration of interest. 2.Interfacing with and integrating available various types of data needed for the re-analysis, including satellite data, in situ data infrastructure, and GMES core services. 3.Implementing state-of-the-art process-based models and assimilation methods through the design and integration of the CARBONES information system. 4.Generating a 30-year re-analysis of carbon fluxes and pools maps consistently constrained by available in situ and satellite data, and regularly updated. 5.Developing an interactive visualisation/mapping interface of the CARBONES system and dataset, designed to meet climate modellers' needs and dedicated to experimentation. 6.Evaluating and demonstrating the interest of the CARBONES information system. 7.Specifying future satellite missions and observation systems of the carbon cycle. 8.Analysing future applications and downstream potentialities: identify possible downstream services and institutional/economic end-users of a CARBONES operational service. 9.Defining a downstream carbon service to meet the needs identified in (8). Thus, the CARBONES global information service will deliver the first ever consistent, high space- and time-resolution history of the carbon cycle, with associated uncertainties and attribution to controlling processes. This history will take the form of a calibrated 30 years-long re-analysis of space and time variations of carbon fluxes and carbon pools over the globe. The products and diagnostics will be publicly disseminated thanks to a tailored user-friendly interface, allowing climate modellers, other science communities and the general public to understand and easily visualize the living carbon cycle over the past 30 years. CARBONES will lay the foundation of a future global operational verification system of CO2 fluxes. The project is compliant will all elements of the EU INSPIRE Directive governing exchange and dissemination of spatial data.

Project information

Lead

NOVELTIS (FR)

Partners

NOVELTIS (FR), Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (FR), Cambridge Environmental Research Consultants Ltd. (UK), Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry (DE), AEA Technology (UK), Thales Alenia Space (FR), Federal Institute of Technology (CH), Stichting Dienst Landbouwkundig Onderzoek (NL), Universität Stuttgart (DE), Peking University (CN), Aberdeen University (UK), Met Office Hadley Centre (UK), European Forest Institute (FI), CLIMMOD Engineering SARL (FR)

Source of funding

FP 7