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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Policy, Management, and Decision Support

Successful carbon management strategy requires detailed and solid scientific information about the basic processes of the carbon cycle which will accurately account for carbon stocks, fluxes and changes, in order to distinguish the effects of human actions from those of the natural system variability.

A Carbon Monitoring System, which focuses on carbon storage and flux of CO2 , will be a critical element in providing solid scientific information of quantified accuracy that will serve as a fundamental knowledge base for planning, policy and decision making at all levels.  Early engagement of the user community, including policy makers, will help assure that the products are not only scientifically solid, but also useful for meeting the needs of carbon science management, and policy. 

Driving questions for engaging policy and decision makers include:

  • Who are the end users of the scientific data about carbon?
  • What different kinds of carbon data are most relevant for policy and decision-making?
  • What, exactly, do the end users want from a Carbon Monitoring system and how will they use it?
  • What would make the scientific products most useful?
  • How accurate of a product is required for sound decision making?

The FY 2010 Carbon Monitoring Systems (CMS)’ Science Definition Team has a collaborative activity focused on applications designed to conduct work that bridges between carbon researchers and end users of research data.  Engaging potential end users and discovering their needs early in the phases of the Carbon Monitoring System will allow scientists to provide reliable data in the most relevant format possible for informed policy discussion and decision making, in addition to data that is relevant for scientific progress.

The specific needs of potential users are being identified through community forums, interviews, questionnaires and on-going conversations. This should increase understanding of how the products may be used by scientists, policy makers, philanthropic interests, decision makers and other interested parties.  This information is then provided to researchers working in the Biomass and Flux Pilots, through meetings, conversations, written briefs and publications to help guide their efforts.  An understanding of the needs of policy and decision makers provides a broader context of the value of the data and products, as well as facilitates understanding of the specific needs of various communities. 

 

Briefing of policy and decision makers

CMS Biomass Products, 9.09.2011

Forests store carbon and thus represent important sinks for atmospheric carbon dioxide. Reducing uncertainty in current estimates of the amount of carbon in standing forests will improve precision of estimates of anthropogenic contributions to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to deforestation. Although satellite remote sensing has long been an important tool for mapping land cover, until recently aboveground forest biomass estimates have relied mostly on systematic ground sampling of forests.  This briefing brought together 25 forest managers and policy makers at the state and federal level to discuss how CMS Biomass products can be used by these decision makers.

CMS Flux Products, 1.11.2012

The CMS Flux project will combine satellite data with modeled atmospheric transport initiated by observationally-constrained terrestrial and oceanic models to tie the atmospheric observations to surface exchange processes and use the results to estimate the atmosphere-biosphere CO2 exchange processes. This meeting brought together 22 individuals from policy, research and regulatory agencies to discuss how the CMS Flux project can serve these communities as their research matures.

  • Details of the briefing.
  • A summary of the meeting was published in EOS transactions.