Why Establish an Ecosystem-Atmosphere Flux

Measurement Network in India?

Dennis Baldocchi

ESPM/Ecosystem Science Div.

University of California, Berkeley

Attributes of a Flux Network

• New and Better Science at Larger and Longer scales– Networks are a New Tool for Biogeoscientists– Provides Data from a Spectrum of Time (day, season, year, decade), Space

(Biomes, Climate, Treatments, Vegetation Structure and Function) – Facilitate temporal analysis – Facilitate spatial comparisons across environmental gradients and across

biomes – Documented institutional memory

• Provide an integrated database for synthesis and modeling – Long-term accessibility of data – Back-up and security of data

• Share developing methodologies and instrumentation – Establish Standards– Shared Calibration Facilities – Redundancy and Back-up of Instrumentation– Training for Next Generation of Scientists– Educational Outreach on Environment to the Public

Contribute to National Goals of Measuring Environmental Health and Trends

• Changes in Trace Gas Concentration in the Atmosphere is due to Fluxes into and out of the Atmosphere

– Address societal issues with regards to What, Where, Why and Will Be?• Carbon Fluxes assess Ecosystem Metabolism

– Breathing of the Biosphere– Gauge to assess Efficacy of Environmental Mitigation or Impacts of Stress

• Water Fluxes assess Evaporation Component of Water Balance– Water supply for people and agriculture

• Energy Fluxes and Meteorology– Boundary and initial condition of weather and climate models

Gap in Global Network-FLUXNET

Distinct Vegetation on the Indian SubContinent

• Tropical Forests• Subtropical

vegetation• Temperate Forests• Croplands• Wetlands/

Swamps/Marshes• Mangroves

India Possess Regions with Unique Biodiversity

India Possesses Regions of High Productivity

India Possesses many Distinct Climates and Extremes

• Climate Extremes– HOT and Humid

• Seasonal/Monsoon• Tropical/Humid• SubTropic/Semi-Arid• Arid• Himalayan/Cold

Montane

Typical Goals of Flux Networks• quantify the spatial differences in carbon dioxide and water vapor

exchange rates that may be experienced within and across natural ecosystems and climatic gradients;

• quantify temporal dynamics and variability (seasonal, inter-annual) of carbon, water and energy flux densities; such data allows us to examine the influences of phenology, droughts, heat spells, El Nino, length of growing season and presence or absence of snow on canopy-scale fluxes; and

• quantify the variations of carbon dioxide and water vapor fluxes due to changes in insolation, temperature, soil moisture, photosynthetic capacity, nutrition, canopy structure and ecosystem functional type

• Quantify Trends due to environmental mitigation or stresses• Quantify Perturbations, land use change, Pollution, Deforestation,

Re-Forestation

Specific goals in support of these objectives include

• :• Sharing data, and the Science Plan • Quantifying the magnitude of net annual CO2 exchange in major

ecosystem/biome types (natural and managed) • Determining the response of CO2 fluxes to changes in

environmental factors and climate changes • Providing information on processes controlling CO2 flux and net

ecosystem productivity • Providing site-specific calibration and verification data for process-

based CO2 flux models • Addressing scaling issues (spatial and temporal) • Ensuring quality controlled and quality assured data collection • Coordinating news • Exchanging flux data and ecological data with other flux networks

AmeriFlux

• To establish an infrastructure for guiding, collecting, synthesizing, and disseminating long-term measurements of CO2 , water, and energy exchange from a variety of ecosystems.

• To collect critical new information to help define the current global CO2 budget.

• To enable improved predictions of future concentrations of atmospheric CO2.

• To enhance understanding of carbon fluxes, Net Ecosystem Production (NEP), and carbon sequestration in the terrestrial biosphere.