Satellite data driven model assessment of landscape variability and environmental controls on the arctic-boreal carbon budget we will apply a satellite data driven carbon model framework to improve…

This is a cooperative agreement awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Shared Services Center to the University of Montana for a project titled "Satellite Data Driven Model Assessment of Landscape Variability and Environmental Controls on the Arctic-Boreal Carbon Budget." The $699,995.51 contract aims to apply a satellite data-driven carbon model framework to improve the understanding and quantification of carbon (CO2 and CH4) fluxes and environmental controls on the net ecosystem carbon budget over the Arctic-boreal region. The project will develop a foundational database to explore links between changing surface conditions, including freeze-thaw regimes, soil moisture, and open water inundation, with Arctic-boreal carbon fluxes. The data will be used within a terrestrial carbon flux model to quantify the net ecosystem carbon budget, component carbon fluxes, and underlying environmental drivers. This work supports NASA's science questions and objectives related to understanding how carbon pools are responding to environmental change and how climate change and disturbances alter land-atmosphere carbon exchange. The contract is not designated as a set-aside.

Satellite data driven model assessment of landscape variability and environmental controls on the arctic-boreal carbon budget we will apply a satellite data driven carbon model framework to improve understanding and quantification of carbon (CO2 and CH4) fluxes and environmental controls on the net ecosystem carbon budget (necb) over the above domain. We will develop a foundational database to explore and quantify links between changing surface conditions, including freeze-thaw (FT) regimes, soil moisture and open water inundation, and arctic-boreal carbon fluxes. These data will link local tower site observations with carve airborne atmospheric CO2 and CH4 measurements and other land parameters derived from satellite optical and microwave remote sensing to clarify surface moisture and thermal constraints to vegetation growth and soil carbon cycling. We will apply these data within a terrestrial carbon flux (TCF) model to quantify the necb, component carbon fluxes and underlying environmental drivers. Model sensitivity studies will be conducted at site, local and regional scales in context with remote sensing observations to document model uncertainties and scaling properties of critical drivers. These results will be used to improve model representations of sub-grid scale processes affecting carbon flux estimates, while incorporating regional model enhancements representing wildfire disturbance recovery and wetland CH4 emissions. Results will include verified necb maps, component carbon fluxes and environmental drivers with daily temporal fidelity, 1-KM spatial resolution and 14+ year (2003-2016) data records. This study addresses several above science questions, including: "how are the magnitudes, fates, and land-atmosphere exchanges of carbon pools responding to environmental change, and what are the biogeochemical mechanisms driving these changes?" we also address above objectives for "elucidating how climate change and disturbances interact and alter land-atmosphere carbon exchange." this study meets phase i priorities for developing "a set of readily accessible, validated data products derived from multiple sensors that can be integrated to form the basis for investigations of ecosystem and societal response over the entire study domain." we will also contribute model sensitivity and validation activities supporting above phase II and III activities, with direct applications to NASA smap and carve missions.