Words from the Science Team Lead

The goal of the NASA- Carbon Monitoring System project is to prototype the development of carbon monitoring capabilities needed to support U.S. needs for monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV). Initiated in 2010, the project is maturing into one of the most exciting and productive initiatives in Earth Sciences. Fundamental to the effort, is the close collaboration between scientists and stakeholders to produce the best and most relevant science information.

To date, the project has produced an impressive 435 publications, with 37 in the highest tier journals (Nature, Science, and PNAS). Collectively, these papers have been cited over 24500 times. The project has also produced and archived 98 related datasets, downloaded over 47,000 times.

2019 was a busy year. 15 new projects were selected in response to ROSES-18 solicitation. These projects will continue several successful prototyping efforts, add new capabilities particularly in areas of wet carbon (wetland, aquatic, and marine stocks and fluxes), and build on our efforts of stakeholder engagement. In September, we presented an overview of the program at the NASA Terrestrial Ecology Meeting. In November, we held our 6th Science Team Meeting, which began with a one-day Applications Workshop focusing on stakeholder needs, followed by two days of science presentations and discussions. Finally, in December, we led three related sessions at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. These sessions attracted 42 abstracts resulting in 16 Oral and 26 Poster presentations. The sessions were anchored by invited speakers Dr. Ralph Keeling and Dr. Inez Fung. At AGU, a preliminary synthesis of CMS Phase 2 activities was presented, along with a new Hyperwall presentation of major CMS highlights.

Looking ahead, we are planning to continue progress on all of these activities, complete a Phase 2 Synthesis Report, participate in the upcoming North American Carbon Program Science Meeting, and prepare for the next Science Team Meeting and AGU meetings later this year. We will also be refreshing and extending the Focus Collection on Carbon Monitoring Research and Applications in the journal Environmental Research Letters. Meanwhile, we enthusiastically note the current ROSES-20 A.6 Carbon Monitoring System solicitation calling for the next set of new and continued projects.

-George Hurtt, Science Team Leader

NASA CMS Science Team Meeting - 2019

From Nov. 12-14, 2019 the NASA Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) Science Team Meeting took place in La Jolla, CA. 

Eighty-one participants, including 15 stakeholders and 66 Science Team Members/personnel attended. The CMS Applications Workshop took place on Nov. 12 with a focus on: understanding stakeholders needs for carbon monitoring and Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV); providing information on the value of CMS products for MRV and related applications; and identifying CMS data products that align with stakeholder needs. A range of stakeholders noted important uses and needs of CMS products in support of planning and policy, with key examples at local, regional, and national/international scales. The newly selected stakeholder-focused project spanning CMS activities was noted and will provide important opportunity and resources to continue to advance stakeholder engagement and alignment with stakeholder needs. The remainder of the Science Team Meeting focused on updates from NASA HQ, presentations and assessments of 2014, 2015, and 2016 project results, introductions to 2018 projects, Phase 2 synthesis report briefing, Working Group progress reporting, briefings on emerging capabilities at NASA, and the development and prioritization of Science Team goals and actions for 2019-2020. It was clear that CMS continues to be innovative, productive and impactful as researchers publish papers and data. Products are also generally advancing in ARL with multiple examples reaching highest level. Progress on CMS projects (2014, 2015, 2016) has been impressive across range of activities and scales, with particular progress in areas of land biomass and atmospheric flux commensurate with program emphasis in those areas.  Given the breadth of progress and capabilities, multiple stakeholders and other participants noted the need/opportunity for CMS to be more widely known and plans were discussed to increase communication efforts internally and externally. Overall, it was clear that the context and approach for CMS continues to be important and unique, with emphasis on advancing both state of the art science based on NASA’s emerging capabilities together with concrete stakeholder engagement and application.

NASA CMS Applications Workshop 2019

November 12, 2019
Scripps Seaside Forum

Goals of CMS Applications Workshop:
1- Understand stakeholders needs for carbon monitoring and Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV).
2- Identify the challenges/needs of communities that are interested in carbon MRV, biomass, Lidar applications and related activities.
3- Provide information on value of CMS products for MRV and related applications.
4- Link CMS community to active policy end users, decision makers and regulatory agencies to ensure maximum benefit of the projects to society.

15 CMS Stakeholders presented on how they are using CMS data products, lessons learned and impact of the products for their organization, and further data needs, including: California Air Resources Board, Illinois Farm Bureau, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, U.S. EPA, USDA Forest Service, Environmental Defense Fund, World Resources Institute, SilvaCarbon, amongst others.
The CMS stakeholders also had the opportunity to participate in a Joint CMS Data Access Tutorial, held by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Distributed Active Archived Center (DAAC) and the Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC), where they learned more about how to access, download, and use CMS datasets, as well as some of the most common challenges and issues when using some of the file formats. Some of the outcomes of the workshop included the creation of a CMS Stakeholder Engagement Working Group, and the development of CMS Stakeholder Fact Sheets with information about stakeholder organizations, uses, impacts, and data needs.

Working Groups