full title: “quantification understanding and prediction of c-cycle and other ghgs in sub-saharan...
TRANSCRIPT
Full title: “Quantification understanding and prediction of
C-cycle and other GHGs in Sub-Saharan Africa”
European Commission, 6th Framework Programme
Priority 1.1.6.3: Global Change and Ecosystems
STREP (Specific Targeted Research Project)
Proposal no. 037132
Duration: 3 years (01/10/06 – 30/09/09)
Funds: 2.8 M€
Coordinator: Prof. Riccardo Valentini, University of Tuscia (Italy)
Participant: currently 15 Institutions (11 European, 3 African, + FAO)
CARBOAFRICA
Participant Organizations Acronym Country
Università degli Studi della Tuscia UNITUS Italy
Max-Planck-Institute of Biogeochemistry MPI-BGC Germany
Lunds universitet ULUND Sweden
Global Terrestrial Observing System, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO-GTOS Int.
Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement CIRAD France
Natural Environment Research Council, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology NERC UK
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche CNR-IBIMET Italy
Istituto Agronomico per l'Oltremare IAO Italy
Seconda Università di Napoli DSA-SUN Italy
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research CSIR South Africa
Unité de Recherche sur la Productivité des Plantations Industrielles UR2PI Congo
Agricultural Research & Technology Corporation ARC Sudan
Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique CEA France
King's College London KCL UK
University of Leicester ULEICS UK
Participants organizations currently 15 Institutions
(11 European, 3 African, + FAO)soon CESBIO (Fr) will join the consortium
CARBOAFRICA
CARBOAFRICA
Why CarboAfrica?
Africa is a region highly vulnerable to climate change due to both ecological and socio-economic factors; however it is the least well-covered region by studies on climate change.
High uncertainty in the understanding of the Africa role in the global C-cycle.
AFRICA CARBON EMISSION
Africa's CO2 emissions from use of fossil fuels are low in relation to the rest of the world (3%), however total Africa’s emissions have been significantly increased (about 10 times in the last 60 years).Few nations account for the bulk of the region's fossil fuels emissions:35 % Algeria, Egypt and Nigeria (combined)42 % South Africa
responsible for about 1.2% of the total global warming effect in 1990: which placed it in the top ten contributing countries in the world.
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA:low but increasing role!
0
500
1000
1500
Mt CO2
UNFCCC 2000-2004 data
North Africa 244.922 260.6 163.7 129.6 553.9 174.7 379.2
Sub-Saharian Africa 326.829 270.9 203.5 884.8 1359.2 1054.2 305.0
South Africa 43.1 309 41.6 0 350.6 16.9 333.7
Population Fossil fuel Agriculture Land Use Emissions Removals Net
Land use change (fires, deforestation and degradation, conversion to crops) is Africa’s primary net source of carbon.
Land Use Change Emissions
Africa: 20% of global land use emission.
FIRE EMISSIONS
Annual global fire carbon emissions: basically unknown, c.1.5 – 5.0 GtC a-1 Africa: 1 GtC a-1 (around 40% of world’s emission)
Sub-Saharan Africa and C-cycle:1- dominated by biogenic processes (linked to climate fluctuations)2- low anthropic influence
With low fossil fuel emissions, Africa’s continental scale carbon fluxes are dominated by biogenic uptake and release from terrestrial ecosystems, as well as fires and deforestation (Williams et al., 2007).
To set up and coordinate a first GHGs monitoring network of Sub-Saharan Africa, in order to:
- better quantify GHGs emissions in Sub-Saharan Africa (considering also fires and deforestation) - better understand the role of fire emissions on the African GHGs balance and its global implications- better understand the Africa's role in the global climate system- improve the assessment of the land use change and evaluate the potential for carbon sequestration (CDM)- promote the integration of the environmental dimension in the African socio-economic context.
CARBOAFRICAMain Objectives
WorkPlanThe work is organized in a multi-disciplinary integrated research approach through the division of main tasks in seven complementary work-packages.
WP1: Observation system & data integration & consolidation
WP2: Ecosystems processes understanding of carbon fluxes
WP3: Modelling for up-scaling to region and continent
WP4: Fire-Climate-Carbon cycle interactions
WP5: Communications and Capacity Development
WP6: Evaluation of a sustainable carbon sequestration
WP7: Project Management
CARBOAFRICA
Eddy covariance sites alreadyavailable in Africa
Eddy covariance sites that willbe established by CARBOAFRICA
stations for atmospheric measurements
THE NETWORK
Carbon Flux network:18 stations, of which2 new (including the 1st in an African tropical forest, in Ghana)
+2 Atmospheric CO2 stations
+Airborne campaigns(CARE experiment)
CARBOAFRICA
Complexity of landscape
CARBOAFRICA
1st Flux Tower in a African Tropical Forest
Height: 72 m (around 30 m over the forest canopy!)
The information provided by this flux station will give an important contribute to the understanding of the Africa’s role in the global carbon cycle.
Ecosystems Process UnderstandingCarboAfrica provides basic sites characterization through intense field campaigns (e.g. Sudan, Ghana, Congo, Zambia, South Africa) that are focusing on:- soil carbon properties- water relations- plant phenology- plant eco-physiology- exchanges of GHGs between soil and atmosphere.
CARBOAFRICA
Roots exclusion technique (soil carbon)
Soil samples are taken to the laboratory: all the soil was sieved and roots were removed from the soil cores
Half of the sampled soil are placed to the nylon meshes with 1 mc openings and returned to the study site (Bulk Soil Respiration Rb).
Another half of the samples are placed back without any barriers for the roots growing (Bulk Soil Respiration + Root Respiration Rbr).
Standard type of technique to measure N2O and CH4 soil-atmosphere gas exchange
Closed chamber – Gas Chromatographic analysis
VIALS
GC analysis
ECD, FID detectors
Gas storage
Gas accumulation over time
Technique is simple
Can be handled by with short training
Needs many samples
Sample shipping within few days
Main costs associated to shipping
Aerial Optical Video Aerial Thermal Video
Pre-Fire Post-Fire
CarboAfrica and Fire1- process satellite data and develop new algorithms to map dynamically the African burned areas2- quantify the African the C emissions and the burnt biomass from fires (FRP) and the related GHG emissions and their regional and interannual variation3- The fire experiment
CARBOAFRICA
IR & Optical Video
The Fire Experiment
The trace gases emitted, the fire spread, the Fire Radiative Energy (FRE), the smoke and fine particles production and the fuel consumption were measured on August 2007 in the Kruger National Park (South Africa).
The fires were observed thought different techniques from remote platforms (helicopter and satellite) and at ground level (with instruments arranged along the perimeter of the plot and oriented downwind).
This experiment will improve our understanding of: 1- the general fire process, 2- the fires role in the climate system, 3- the carbon and other GHGs emission form fires, 4- the biomass consumption in fires, 5- the relation between FRE and fuel consumption, 6- the fire spread prediction by models, 7- the satellite imagery interpretation.
CARBOAFRICA
CARBOAFRICAModelling activities are foreseen to generalize and up-scale the ecosystem level observations, estimating carbon balance, and its temporal variability, from local, to regional and continental scales.
Modelling
CARBOAFRICADaily model output expected from four models
Bottom-up simulation by models indicate large intra-annual and inter-annual variation in Africa's ecosystem productivity.
Both intra-annual (seasonal cycle) and inter-annual variability are strongly controlled by climate fluctuations and water availability.
CarboAfrica and Kyoto Protocol(CDM and REDD)
1- Specific regional studies in key areas are being conducted, considering both carbon sources and sinks, in order to evaluate the potential for carbon sequestration in Sub-Saharan Africa. Training on CDM opportunities will be provided to African stakeholders.
2- Specific researches to evaluate the potential for reducing emissions from avoided deforestation and forest degradation (post Kyoto 2012) in sub-Saharan Africa will be considered.
CARBOAFRICA
Deforestation and Kyoto Protocol
Santilli et al. 2003
Tropical Land Use Change: 0.8±0.2 to 2.2±0.8 PgC yr-1
Kyoto Target: 0.5 PgC yr-1
AFRICA contribute about to 30% of totaltropical land clearing from deforestation
Communication and capacity development
FAO (through the GTOS programme) leads the communication and capacity development activities, dedicated to African institutions and stakeholders, to maximise the exploitation of the project’s achievements, and promote the integration of the environmental dimension in the social and economic context.
For the 1st year of the project FAO and GTOS have already implemented: the project webpage www.carboafrica.net, the list of server, the for-monthly newsletters, and the project brochure in English and French. Other activities are: support to African students and organization of workshops and training courses.
CARBOAFRICA
CarboAfrica and GEO
CARBOAFRICA contributes to the task EC-06-01 (Integrated Global Carbon Observation, IGCO) of the GEO 2007-2009 Work Plan, by improving the current global carbon observing network in an underrepresented region such as Africa. CARBOAFRICA will expand and coordinate the African observation system of old, current and future carbon data that will be harmonized and standardised through a common quality check and data processing. The data produced by CARBOAFRICA will be made freely available on the web.
&
CARBOAFRICA
Looking forward: CarboAfrica 2?
• 1. Expand atmospheric and “in situ” network to increase representativeness
• 2. Expand remote sensing capabilities
(i.e. deforestation and forest degradation)• 3. Improve water nitrogen and carbon integration• 4. Improve socio-economic analysis of land-use
changes• 5. Consider also and fossil fuel maps of mega-
cities
