The GLOBCARBON initiative: Multi-sensor estimation of global biophysical products for global terrestrial carbon studies

To predict future climate change accurately the processes and feedbacks that drive the carbon cycle must first be understood and the spatial and temporal patterns of carbon fluxes delineated, particularly over land. To aid this process the European Space Agency GLOBCARBON project aims to generate fully calibrated estimates of at-land products quasi-independent of the original Earth Observation source for use in Dynamic Global Vegetation Models, a central component of the Global Carbon Project, a joint initiative between the International Geosphere Biosphere Programme, International Human Dimensions Programme and World Climate Research Programme. The service will feature global estimates of: burned area, fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation, leaf area index and vegetation growth cycle. The demonstrator will process years from 1998 to 2003 when overlap exists between ESA Earth Observation sensors and VEGETATION. This paper examines the experience of the GLOBCARBON project as it begins to deliver products to the identified user community of atmospheric chemistry and dynamic global vegetation modellers. It features discussion of user requirements, operational algorithms, and product output and use within the Sheffield and Lund-Potsdam-Jena global vegetation and the atmospheric chemistry models of LSCE and the Max Planck Institute-Hamburg.