Words from the Science Team Lead

Started in 2010, in response to Congressional direction, the NASA Carbon Monitoring is one of NASA’s most exciting initiatives in Earth Sciences. Since inception, the program has progressed from a small number of relatively large pilot projects and scoping studies, to a diverse program that has supported 101 projects, >466 Participants, and >150 Stakeholders prototyping carbon monitoring technologies for land, atmosphere, aquatic, and ocean carbon stocks and fluxes around the world. CMS started under annual direction and is now part of NASA’s program of record. The initiative has produced >505 unique publications, with 34 in top tier journals (Science, Nature, and PNAS), collectively cited >21,000 times. Underlying these publications are >110 archived data products, downloaded >54,000 times. Many CMS projects have provided critical scientific products to meet stakeholder needs, with some reaching the highest Application Readiness Levels. After a decade, numerous synthesis activities are underway to take stock of advances to date and identify key next steps. Looking ahead, CMS is positioned to continue to lead in new spaceborne remote sensing and modeling products strongly linked to stakeholder needs for information on carbon. Building on and expanding partnerships with stakeholders, and other entities with complementary expertise and data will be essential. Ultimately, the research needs to respond to stakeholder needs in a system framework that is transparent, accessible, open, and includes estimates of uncertainties.

-George Hurtt, Science Team Leader

NASA CMS Science Team Meeting – 2020

From Nov. 2-19, 2020 the NASA Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) Science Team Meeting took place virtually and via WebEx. The meeting consisted of three major parts: iPoster Gallery (Nov. 2-16), Applications Workshop (Nov. 17), and Science Meeting (Nov. 18 & 19). The goals of the meeting included: update on NASA programmatic goals, stakeholder engagement, presentation of CMS Results (2016 and 2018 projects), advance and share progress of working groups & synthesis efforts, and discussion of science team activities for 2020-2021. Invitees included: all members of projects from the 2016 and 2018 solicitations, stakeholders identified to be working with the projects, DAAC representatives, and CMS management and support. The live portion of the meeting (Nov. 17-19) had 108 unique attendees, including 22 stakeholders and 49 Science Team Members and 33 project participants.

The CMS Applications Workshop took place on Nov. 17 and had 91 unique attendees. The event featured presentations by and panel discussions with 12 active stakeholders on topics of biomass, flux, and “wet carbon”. Stakeholders noted the very high importance of CMS products across a range of applications including: the role of forests in climate mitigation planning, wetland and mangroves carbon monitoring, and aquatic and marine primary productivity. Stakeholders also noted remaining data needs and gaps, obstacles or barriers to use, and things CMS could do better. It was noted that numerous important applications remain, that the needs for carbon information are likely to grow in the future in the context of national/international greenhouse gas reporting needs, that new stakeholders should be identified and engaged with the program, and that capacity building is needed to help both existing and newly identified stakeholders better understand and use CMS products. CMS activities in terms of the policy speaker series, webinars, engagement with other federal agencies such as USFS, and stakeholder synthesis papers in preparation were viewed as important next steps.

The remainder of the Science Team Meeting took place on Nov. 18 & 19 and had 83 and 80 attendees, respectively. This portion of the meeting focused on: update on NASA programmatic goals, presentation of CMS Results (2016 and 2018 projects), advance and share progress of working groups & synthesis efforts, and discussion of science team activities for 2020-2021. It was clear that CMS continues to be innovative, productive and impactful. Products are also generally advancing in ARL with multiple examples reaching highest level. Progress on CMS projects (2016, 2018) has been impressive across range of activities and scales, with particular progress in areas of land biomass and atmospheric flux, and new progress in the area of wet carbon commensurate with program emphasis in those areas. The Phase 2 synthesis report is timely and is making good progress; it was presented at AGU2019 and is currently in preparation as an Invited Review for the journal Environmental Research Letters. Meanwhile there are now 5 additional synthesis papers in preparation focused on the underlying thematic areas (Stakeholder, Uncertainty, Wet Carbon, MRV, Biomass).

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.

-G. Hurtt, Science Team Leader; P. Griffith, Lead CCEO Office; Edil Sepulveda, NASA GSFC

For more information please visit: https://carbon.nasa.gov/meeting_2020/index.html

CMS Sessions at AGU

December 1- 17, 2020

At the 2020 AGU Fall Meeting there were a number of sessions devoted to Carbon Monitoring Systems more broadly beyond NASA CMS. Peter Griffith, George Hurtt and Molly Brown organized two stakeholder panels and one science-heavy poster session. The first panel (B118) included information about how corporations, NGOs and governments are using CMS products and other information derived from satellite remote sensing in decision making. The second panel (B119) focused on how CMS products have been instrumental in the use of development of emissions trading systems globally, in California and in the North Eastern United States. The poster session (B108) had 35 papers representing a wide sampling of CMS applications and product development from across the CMS topic areas of surface flux, ocean biomass, land biomass and atmospheric flux. Poster presenters had an opportunity to present a 3-minute summary of their research at an afternoon “poster walk”. NASA CMS researchers also presented in numerous oral and poster sessions during this AGU. Authors willing to make their posters from the AGU 2020 meeting public can post them at the ESSOAr site. Posters from the AGU 2020 Fall meeting, that have been made public, can be found at https://www.essoar.org/meeting/524997. Despite this impressive turnout, we missed seeing each other in person!

USFS-NASA Virtual Pitch Fest Highlights

November 9-10, 2020

On November 9-10, the CMS applications team helped organize and host (with USFS personnel) the USDA Forest Service-NASA Virtual Ideas Forum, a follow up event to the Pitch Fest where selected pitches were invited to further present their ideas and receive feedback from subject matter experts. The goals of the event were to provide specific feedback to pitch teams and awareness of data, tools, and expertise to help their ideas reach their potential, and create a collaborative environment where teams have access to people and tools needed to co-develop a path forward. Three current and former CMS Science Team members had winning pitches participating of the Virtual Ideas Forum:

• Chris Elvidge from Colorado School of Mines – Sub-pixel Analysis of Flaming and Smoldering Combustion
• Alex Rudee from World Resources Institute and George Hurtt from University of Maryland – Integrating NASA and USFS Datasets for a High-Resolution Annual Forest Carbon Monitoring System
• Mary Ellen Miller and Nancy French from Michigan Tech Research Institute (and Others) – Enhancing Fire Management with Earth Observations

For more information on this USFS-NASA Partnership, the events, resources, and publications please visit: https://pikesmeetings.wixsite.com/usfs-nasa

Working Groups

CMS working groups are organized to promote collaboration and synthesis of activities between related projects and to advance initiative goals.

Phase 3 Working Groups

Flux Working Group
led by Abhishek Chatterjee

The focus of the Flux Working Group is to determine and quantify the carbon balance of individual point sources to state or multi-state regions to hemispheric or global domains.

Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) Working Group
led by Pontus Olofsson

The MRV working group aims at identifying current obstacles to MRV implementation and how CMS-funded research has furthered implementation and can, in the future, help overcome obstacles. As a first step in this process, we aim to publish a paper that reviews MRV obstacles and opportunities in the Environmental Research Letters Special Issue

Methane Working Group
led by Daniel Jacob

The CMS Methane WG coordinates activities within CMS to better understand the factors controlling atmospheric methane from the global budget down to point sources and in collaboration with stakeholders. Ten papers from the CMS Methane WG are presently submitted or in press.

Uncertainties Working Group
led by Robert Kennedy

All CMS projects must consider uncertainty in some manner, but the manner by which uncertainty is handled differs among them. Many CMS projects are now at a phase where uncertainty estimates exist, and where the maturation of the science of uncertainty merits an integrative assessment. A review paper based on the experience among CMS project to provide a framework for understanding uncertainty is in preparation for Environmental Research Letters.

Biomass Working Group
led by Andy Hudak and Laura Duncanson

This working group seeks to increase dialogue and coordination between Investigators leading different yet complementary CMS projects, with an aim to deliver improved terrestrial biomass products. We trust that there are important efficiencies and synergies to be gained through closer collaboration, including discussions of error accounting, data sharing, field survey coordination, etc.

A review paper comparing aboveground biomass estimates for National Forests in the Western US to FSVeg stand level measurements is in preparation. This effort builds on the results from a number of CMS projects and allows for a comparison of the precision and accuracy of mapped biomass estimates validated with independent, ground-based estimates and associated uncertainties. The CMS Biomass group is also contributing to the CEOS Land Product Validation Good Practices Protocol

Wet Carbon Working Group
led by Lola Fatoyinbo

The focus of the Wet Carbon Working group is to determine the current status of carbon monitoring at the terrestrial-aquatic interface, including coastal and freshwater wetlands, rivers, lakes, and the coastal and open ocean. The group is working to advance the development of more generalized tools and paradigms for monitoring carbon stocks and flux estimates at the terrestrial-aquatic interface including new protocols, methods and recommendations for future research opportunities for the NASA CMS program and stakeholders.

A review paper on Carbon Monitoring at the Terrestrial-Aquatic Interface including how to address decarbonization, land management, and water quality with a particular emphasis on the use of remote sensing and Earth observations for new wetland management is in preparation for the CMS Special Collection in Environmental Research Letters.

Stakeholder Working Group
led by Edil Sepulveda Carlo

The CMS Stakeholder Engagement Working Group focuses on coordination and information-sharing about best practices to engage with stakeholders, potential users of CMS data products, and other decisionmakers. The WG is developing a paper that will include a thorough review of stakeholder needs and interests in carbon monitoring, and we are looking to include actual stakeholders in upcoming meetings of the working group.

All CMS Science Team Members should be a member of one or more Working Group and many will likely want to join more than one. To join a working group email <support@carbon.nasa.gov> and let them know which group you would like to join.

NASA CMS Applications - Policy Speaker Series

The CMS applications team hosted a virtual CMS Policy Speaker Series seminar on October 29, 2020 to highlight the priorities of the REMEDY Program from DOE’s ARPA-E, discuss data gaps and needs of the agency, upcoming funding opportunities, and explore potential connections and collaborations with NASA and CMS scientists. The proposed REMEDY (Reducing Emissions of Methane Every Day of the Year) program is focused on technologies to prevent and/or abate methane emissions. The agency is seeking systems that integrate prevention/abatement technologies with hardware/software to quantify methane reduction, among other priorities of interest to the carbon community.

The speakers included Jack Lewnard, Program Director at ARPA-E, and Hoyt Battey, Program Manager for Strategy, Analysis and Outreach at the Water Power Technologies Office of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The key take home messages that emerged from the presentations and discussions were: (1) the REMEDY Program is trying to develop integrated systems that eliminate methane emissions and quantify inlet and outlet methane fluxes; (2) decreasing atmospheric methane concentration is possible with 10-30% reduction in anthropogenic CH4 emissions due to natural methane sinks; (3) the agency is interested in connecting with NASA scientists to discuss methane emissions quantification using drones, tower-based scanners, satellites, and other remote sensing technologies.

To see the slides and the recording of the panel visit:
https://carbon.nasa.gov/policy_speaker_29102020.html

***For more information on CMS applications and stakeholder engagement efforts, please visit https://carbon.nasa.gov/applications.html, or contact CMS Applications Coordinator, Edil Sepulveda Carlo at edil.sepulvedacarlo@nasa.gov. ***

Featured Publications

Hurtt, G.C. et al. 2020. Harmonization of global land use change and management for the period 850-2100 (LUH2) for CMIP6. Geoscientific Model Development. 13(11), 5425-5464. 10.5194/gmd-13-5425-2020

Menlove, James, and Sean P. Healey. "A Comprehensive Forest Biomass Dataset for the USA Allows Customized Validation of Remotely Sensed Biomass Estimates." Remote Sensing 12, no. 24 (2020): 4141. 10.3390/rs12244141

Tang, H. L. Mai, A. Lister, J. O’Neil-Dunne, J. Lu, R. Lamb, R. Dubayah & G. Hurtt (2020). High-Resolution Forest Carbon Mapping for Climate Mitigation Baselines Over the RGGI Region, USA. Environmental Research Letters. 10.1088/1748-9326/abd2ef

Cusworth, D. H., Duren, R. M., Thorpe, A. K., Pandey, S., Maasakkers, J. D., Aben, I., et al. (2020). Multi-satellite imaging of a gas well blowout enables quantification of total methane emissions. Geophysical Research Letters, 47. e2020GL090864. 10.1029/2020GL090864

Previous Featured Publications:

• New 3D measurements of large redwood trees for biomass and structure
• Global rules for translating land-use change (LUH2) to land-cover change for CMIP6 using GLM2

By the Numbers

507 CMS Pubs total

• 34 CMS pubs in Science Nature and PNAS
• CMS pubs have been cited 21295 times

111 CMS data products archived total

• 31 CMS data products have been downloaded over 54000 times

Upcoming Events in 2021

North American Carbon Program (NACP) Open Science Meeting
Friday afternoons March 2021

Meeting website:https://www.nacarbon.org/meeting_2021/index.html