4.1 Global Observation of Forest Cover
Dr Frank Ahern, Coordinator of the Global Observation of Forest Cover (GOFC) project, presented a report on the current status and plansGOFC began as one of six pilot projects selected by the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) to test the concept of an Integrated Global Observing Strategy (IGOS).
Following two years of project development, CEOS has expanded IGOS to become the IGOS Partnership (IGOS-P) in order to increase the involvement of the major international organisations which make use of earth observation data (WMO, FAO, IGBP, UNEP, etc.), and to try to increase the degree of integration, as well as relevance to major emerging requirements such as the Framework Convention on Climate Change. To accomplish the latter, IGOS-P decided to encourage the development of broader themes. The pilot projects will eventually be incorporated into one of the themes. There is broad interest in the development of a theme for terrestrial carbon, and it is expected that GOFC will become a project under this theme.
In 1998 GOFC carried out its design phase, which resulted in a 104-page strategic design document (Ahern et al., 1998). It describes how a programme for global observations of forests could be implemented, based primarily on data from existing and planned satellites. Because of differing degrees of technical and administrative complexity, the implementation is divided into three components:
Forest Fire Monitoring and Mapping;
Forest Cover Characteristics and Changes;
Forest Biophysical Processes.
The implementation of each of these components would represent a significant advance in itself, but the strategic design shows how the interconnections between components result in a whole which is significantly stronger that the sum of its parts.
At this time, GOFC is at an early stage of implementation. The strategic design has received strong support by CEOS members. Several CEOS agencies have pledged data sets as contributions to GOFC (including data from proposed future satellites), and a few organisations have identified programmes with substantial funding which will be used for efforts to achieve GOFC objectives. The CEOS working groups for information and systems services (WGISS) and calibration/validation (WGCV) have been instrumental in the development of the GOFC design, and continue to provide valuable support for GOFC implementation. A workshop to plan implementation for tropical regions in March, hosted by IGBP-START, has shown the need for the creation of regional networks of interested institutions and has begun that process. A workshop to advance the implementation of the Forest Fire Monitoring and Mapping component will be held at the European Commission Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy in November, 1999. A GOFC web site is in operation, and a GOFC DataSite, to be hosted by the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, is under development.
The TOPC meeting represents an ideal opportunity to become more aware of the GTOS-affiliated in situ networks, in order to take greater advantage of these sources of ground data; to explore ways for greater cooperation between GOFC and the GTOS Net Primary Productivity (NPP) project; and contribute to the initial design leading to a proposal for the development of a terrestrial carbon theme for IGOS-P. The presentation and subsequent discussions clearly demonstrated that the GTOS-sponsored networks represent an essential resource for GOFC which could provide critical in situ data and, in addition, could serve as professional contact points for international collaboration.
4.2 Net Primary Productivity Project
Prof. Gosz reported on the progress of the NPP demonstration project.
The project is organised and awaiting the launch of NASA's Terra satellite. Links are currently being encouraged in order to reinforce the project through FAO efforts; these efforts have led to obtaining access to the SPOT 4 VEGETATION data set and to other NASA images. Currently, 45 sites representing 12 countries have been identified with initial validation studies: China, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel South Korea, Poland, South Africa, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Venezuela. Among the networks attending the Guernica meeting, only LTER and ILTER were involved in the preparations for the project. This slow progress is mainly due to the delays in the launch of EOS Terra and does not provide a true perspective on the interest in the project by other networks.
For the above sites selected from the two networks, a mechanism has been set up to allow a two-way data flow via the Internet. These sites were also included in the second version of TEMS (see Section 11). The set-up has been tested with sample data. The initially specified methodology has been tested at several sites, and problems regarding details of the measurement methods (e.g., LAI measurement and scaling) have been considered.
TOPC was pleased to note the progress in both projects. It confirmed the continuing relevance of the projects, particularly given the increasing interest in the terrestrial carbon cycle. It also supported the implementation strategies being pursued which take advantage of related developments and build on these where possible.
TOPC noted the need to examine the match between the project objectives and the requirements for terrestrial carbon observations once these become firmly established (discussed separately, see Section 5.). Nevertheless, some reorientation is warranted at this time. For example, in view of the growing interest in the terrestrial carbon cycle, estimating net ecosystem productivity (NEP) should be included as an objective in both projects.
TOPC also considered the linkages and areas of common interest between the two projects: land cover, NPP, and NEP. For land cover, the intent is to take advantage of products being developed elsewhere, most notably as part of the EOS Terra programme; thus, it is desirable to establish closer linkages with groups developing these products. The NPP project can provide NPP and NEP for the Forest Biophysical Processes theme of GOFC. The local contacts and collaboration available through GTN-E will be of great benefit to GOFC. GOFC can aid in the provision of data and products from additional satellites, including Landsat, SPOT, and radar satellites to help cooperating sites with land cover assessments needed by the NPP project. GOFC can also take on the responsibility for land cover and forest fire emissions needed for NEP estimation.
It was also agreed that it is important to emphasise the natural resource management benefits (rangeland, forestry, agriculture) as well as the research benefits of the collaboration to enable effective participation from many countries.
Regarding the two pilot projects, TOPC recommends:
Recommendation 4.1: It is recommended that mapping the spatial distribution of NEP be included as an explicit objective of the NPP project, and that the project be re-named accordingly (“NPP/NEP” is a possibility, used below).
Recommendation 4.2: It is recommended that all GTN-E sites interested in participating in the NPP/NEP project be included in the initial phase of testing the satellite-derived products (see also Section 11).
Recommendation 4.3: It is recommended that GOFC work with NPP/NEP to meet its Forest Biophysical Processes theme objectives and that it provide biomass burning emission estimates for that purpose.
Recommendation 4.4: It is recommended that GOFC broaden its Land Cover theme to include all terrestrial ecosystems, and that it establish close linkages with global land cover mapping activities under EOS Terra.
Recommendation 4.5: It is recommended that GOFC establish access and linkages to national forestry agencies on behalf of both NPP/NEP and GOFC projects.
