Reviews and syntheses: Enhancing research and monitoring of land-to-atmosphere greenhouse gases exchange in developing countries

Abstract

Abstract. Greenhouse gas (GHG) research has traditionally required data collection and analysis using advanced and often expensive instruments, complex and proprietary software, and skilled technicians. Partly as a result, relatively little GHG research has been conducted in resource-constrained developing countries and a critical data gap exists in these regions. At the same time, these are the same countries and regions in which climate-change impacts will likely be strongest, and in which major science uncertainties are centered, given the importance of dryland and tropical systems to the global carbon cycle and climate. Increasingly, scientific communities have adopted appropriate technology and approach (AT&A) for GHG research, including low-cost and low-technology instruments, open source software and data, and participatory and networking-based research approaches. Adopting AT&A can mean acquiring data with fewer technical constraints and lower economic burden, and is thus a strategy for enhancing GHG research in developing countries. However, AT&A can be characterized by higher uncertainties; these can often be mitigated by carefully designing experimental set-up, providing clear protocols for data collection, and monitoring and validating the quality of obtained data. For implementing this approach in GHG research of developing countries, first, it is necessary to recognize the scientific and moral importance of AT&A. At the same time, new AT&A techniques should be identified and further developed. Finally, these processes should be promoted through training local staff and encouraged for wide use and further innovation in developing countries.

Commercial Forest Carbon Protocol Over-credit Bias Delimited by Zero-threshold Carbon Accounting

“…Note that NEE is equivalent but opposite in sign to NEP (NEP = ̶ NEE) assuming that inorganic C fluxes balance or are negligible [62]. In the case of REDD+ projects, eddy covariance is integrated with monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) protocols, establishing methodological comparability across diverse REDD+ project types and baselines [45]- [47], [63]- [65], supporting the inclusion of REDD+ projects in this study, representing ~13% of projects analyzed and consistent with [15]. High frequency measurements for NEE detects decreasing or increasing project carbon emission scenarios averaged across hourly to annual intervals [25] that are not detectable by CFCP infrequent forest mensuration (e.g., 6 to 12 year intervals) [2].…”

CongoFlux – The First Eddy Covariance Flux Tower in the Congo Basin

“…Fluxnet's FLUXNET2015 dataset provides ecosystem-scale EC data from 212 of these sites (23). Despite these high numbers and the need for a pan-African network of EC flux towers (12,30), only a total of 11 active EC stations are recording flux data across the entire African continent (13), with no single data reported for the second-largest tropical rainforest extend in the world.…”