Remote Sensing Input for Regional to Global Co2 Flux Modelling

The current and future strength of the terrestrial carbon sink has a crucial influence on the expected climate warming on Earth. Usually, Earth Observation (EO) by its very nature focusses on diagnosing the current state of the planet. However, it is possible to use EO products in data assimilation systems to improve not only the diagnosis of the current state, but also the accuracy of future predictions. This contribution reports from an on-going Eurpean Space Agency (ESA) funded study in which the MERIS FAPAR product is assimilated into a terrestrial biosphere model within the global Carbon Cycle Data Assimilation System (CCDAS). Results are presented from a range of selected sites spanning the major biomes of the globe, and show how the inclusion of MERIS land products results in improved accuracy of the site carbon flux estimates. They also show the uncertainty in the predicted carbon sink of those sites for selected climate scenarios until 2039.