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MODELING THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE AND LAND USE CHANGE ON CARBON AND TRACE GAS BUDGETS OVER THE AMAZON REGION USING NASA SATELLITE PRODUCTS
Citation:
POTTER, C., M. BUSTAMANTE, S. KLOSTER, V. GENOVESE, L. FERREIRA, A. HUERTE, R. COSME, R. NEMANI, AND R. G. ZEPP. MODELING THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE AND LAND USE CHANGE ON CARBON AND TRACE GAS BUDGETS OVER THE AMAZON REGION USING NASA SATELLITE PRODUCTS. Presented at Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Eco Science Team Meeting and Synthesis Workshop, Salvador, BRAZIL, September 26 - 30, 2007.
Impact/Purpose:
The overall objective of this task is to develop quantitative relationships for assessing the vulnerability of aquatic ecosystems (freshwater and coastal) and their services to global change. The task will contribute experimental and modeling tools for assessments of the interactions of global climate and UV changes with coral reefs and selected watersheds and estuaries in the U.S. and Brazil These activities are contributing to two APGs in the ecosystems focus area of the Global Change Research Multiyear Plan: the 2008 APG (APG 2) on developing information and tools that managers will use in their decision-making about how to adapt to the effects of global change on aquatic ecosystems; and the 2010 APG (APG 3) on providing information and models that will support development of biocriteria for corals. One major task objective is to assess interactions of global warming and UV exposure that are contributing to the observed coral bleaching and disease. Our lab is working with scientists at the NHEERL Gulf Ecology Lab to characterize UV exposure and effects at several coral reef sites in the Florida Keys. This collaboration will contribute to one ERD APM in 2006 and three joint NERL-NHEERL APMs in the 2008 - 2010 period. Other research is examining the effects of changing climate and UV on microbial activity in waters close to beaches in the U.S. Work is being completed on the interactions of land use and climate changes with the ecological functioning of streams in watersheds of the southeastern U.S. The task also includes two sub-tasks that are funded mainly by funds-in IAGs. One sub-task funded by NASA involves research in central Brazil that is part of the Large Scale Biosphere Atmosphere Experiment (LBA). This work involves a close collaboration between EPA and a group of scientists from the Department of Ecology, University of Brasilia, Brazil. The objectives of this project are to assess the impacts of land use and climatic changes on soil nutrient cycles and microbiota, trace gas exchange and water quality in the Brazilian cerrado. Another sub-task funded by the Office of Naval Research is examining interactions between nitrogen and organic substances in aquatic ecosystems that produce the colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) that controls penetration of solar UV radiation into coastal waters.
Description:
As part of the LBA-ECO Phase III synthesis efforts for remote sensing and predictive modeling of Amazon carbon, water, and trace gas fluxes, we are evaluating results from the regional ecosystem model called NASA-CASA (Carnegie-Ames Stanford Approach). The NASA-CASA model has been formulated to run at monthly time intervals for the years 2000 to the present using NASA satellite data inputs from the MODIS and CERES sensors. Our preliminary results point to the importance of better understanding and mapping the influence of incident solar radiance, rainfall amounts, and land cover changes at the basin scale to reduce model uncertainties in relation to LBA tower flux records. For more information, go to http://geo.arc.nasa.gov/sge/casa/