Measuring global forest biomass: current

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1 Measuring global forest biomass: current status and new developments Shaun Quegan University of Sheffield & National Centre for Earth Observation

2 Fate of anthropogenic CO 2 emissions ( average) 33.0±1.6 GtCO 2 /yr 91% 16.0±0.4 GtCO 2 /yr 44% Partitioning Sources 9.5±2.9 GtCO 2 /yr 2 y 30% Not measured! 3.4±1.8 GtCO 2 /yr 9% 26% 10.9±1.8 GtCO 2 /yr Source: CDIAC; NOAA ESRL; Houghton et al 2012; Giglio et al 2013; Le Quéré et al 2015; Global Carbon Budget 2015

3 Fate of anthropogenic CO 2 emissions ( average) 33.0±1.6 GtCO 2 /yr 91% 16.0±0.4 GtCO 2 /yr 44% Partitioning Sources 9.5±2.9 GtCO 2 /yr 2 y 30% Not measured! 3.4±1.8 GtCO 2 /yr 9% 26% 10.9±1.8 GtCO 2 /yr Source: CDIAC; NOAA ESRL; Houghton et al 2012; Giglio et al 2013; Le Quéré et al 2015; Global Carbon Budget 2015

4 Biomass is needed for international treaties and carbon trading Rd Reducing Emissions i from Deforestation Df & Degradation (UN REDD+) Land use change Land use Land use change change Global Forest Observations Initiative Largest biomass uncertainty

5 Biomass & carbon residence time If rate of loss of biomass is proportional to biomass, with turnover time, then B P B where P B is mean production of biomass

6 Biomass affects the benefits we gain from forests Biomass is crucial for o Materials o Energy o Forest resources o Forest services: flood control preventing soil erosion protecting ti water quality biodiversity ecotourism

7 GCOS findings/recommendations e dat o s GCOS-82 Adequacy Report 2 (2003) Satellite missions capable of measuring global vegetation biomass are required. GCOS-92 Implementation e Plan (2004) No designated baseline biomass network exists. No appropriate laser/radar missions exist. A key priority is development and deployment of airborne and spaceborne microwave and lidar systems to measure aboveground biomass; the Space Agencies should plan for such missions GCOS-107: Satellite requirements (2006) and GCOS-138: IP update (2010) Same messages

8 Carbon and Inventory of Global Forests

9 Gridded forest maps ca Ki d l A Gl b l F G i S k Kindermann et al.: A Global Forest Growing Stock, Biomass and Carbon Map Based on FAO Statistics

10 Forest carbon density in NH boreal and temperate forests and its relative uncertainty Thurner et al., 2013

11 Pan-tropical biomass maps based on IceSAT lidar height ht Baccini i et al, 2012 Saatchi et al, 2011

12 Measuring biomass from space: now and the medium-term future 1. L-band radar (JAXA PALSAR-2 now; Argentine SAOCOM soon) will provide biomass estimates in lower biomass and regrowing forests. 2. NASA Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation lidar on the International Space Station in ~ ESA BIOMASS P-band radar mission will launch ~ NASA-ISRO NISAR L-band radar mission will launch towards the end of the decade. 5. The ESA GlobBiomass project began in Jan 2015: integrated observations for improved biomass maps.

13 Major steps forward in in situ measurements of biomass The ESA-funded International Forest Biomass Network (begun 2015) is an international cooperation to establish and maintain a global in-situ in situ forest biomass database.

14 In situ studevelopmentse e 1. Significant increase in tropical in situ data, in part motivated by REDD+ and Measuring, Reporting and Verification needs. 2. Reduction of uncertainty in estimates of tropical biomass from new allometric models (Chave et al., 2014), based on greatly extended in situ measurements across the whole tropical belt. 3. Terrestrial Laser Scanners are likely to radically improve biomass & allometry, and hence Land Use Change Flux estimates

15 Conclusions cuso s 1. Over a very short period, we have gone from aspirations to reality in producing global gridded biomass data based on space data. 2. These developments have been accompanied by much greater need for these data for climate science, policy, ecosystem services and human well-being. 3. We have a clear medium-term path into improved observations from space and on the ground, and the space and in situ communities are increasingly well- connected.

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18 Is the FAO the right place for a forest biomass Centre? UN Global Forest Resources Assessment Main source of information on global forest carbon stocks Issued every 5 years Based on national statistics 1 value of biomass per country Driver for in situ biomass: MRV systems for REDD+ GEO Global Forest Observations Initiative.

19 Spatial distribution of carbon density per forest area in Northern Hemisphere boreal and temperate t forests (aggregated to 0.5 resolution).

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21 SW-NE Amazon transect