Module Q&S | Sources and Sinks of Greenhouse Gases
In order to be able to represent the formation of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane as accurately as possible using inverse modelling (Module M), the estimation of "a priori" or "prior" fluxes of greenhouse gas exchange between the surface and the atmosphere is of central importance in addition to observational data (Module B).
The Sources & Sinks (Q&S) module develops modelling approaches that make it possible to simulate these "a-priori" or "prior" fluxes in high spatial and temporal resolution, together with an assessment of the uncertainties. The calculation of these "a-priori" fluxes of greenhouse gases is performed by bottom-up quantification of greenhouse gas emissions, parameterisation of process and ecosystem fluxes and anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases at local to regional scales. Comparisons of the inversion results with the model results from the Q&S module lead to continuous further development of the GHG emissions estimate.
In the first phase of ITMS, the core area of the Q&S module (QS_I) consists of four work packages (WP1 - WP4) and five associated projects (QS_II), which, in addition to the core modules, carry out studies on specialised topics such as greenhouse gas emissions from peatlands/organic soils (MODELPEAT), agriculture, forestry and livestock farming (Agri-For-Live), water bodies (Coast GEm), which are then to be made available for operational use in the subsequent phases.
QS_I WP1 | GHG emissions in the industry, transport, energy and waste sectors
The Federal Environment Agency is involved in Work Package 1 (WP1) and provides spatio-temporally distributed anthropogenic emissions for the industry, transport, energy and waste sectors.
The Gridding Emission Tool for ArcGIS (Greta) is already used for the spatial distribution of air pollutants. Greta will be expanded to include greenhouse gases as part of the project. In addition, the temporal distribution of emissions will be realised by further developing the Temporal Resolution of Emission data (TeReSE) tool.
Further Information:
Involved persons:
QS_I WP2 | Greenhouse gas fluxes for the agriculture and forestry sectors
In work package 2 (WP2), the Thünen Institute provides spatially downscaled emission fields of the greenhouse gases CO2, CH4 and N2O based on national UNFCCC reporting according to the "National Inventory Report", distinguishing between the different source categories such as livestock systems, direct soil emissions, indirect emissions and emissions due to land use change.
Participating institutions: Thünen Institute, Institute of Climate-Smart Agriculture, Working Group on Emission Inventories
Involved Persons:
QS_I WP3 | Biogenic CO2 Fluxes
Work package 3 (WP3) aims to develop a flexible and operational workflow for estimating hourly biogenic CO2 fluxes. These estimates will be performed with high spatial and temporal resolution based on the integration of machine learning, satellite data, measurements of CO2 fluxes, and supplementary parameters at eddy covariance sites in Germany. This will serve as the basis for the inversion activities of the ITMS-M module. This work draws on the MPI-BGC group's many years of experience in connection with the FLUXCOM-Initiative.
Participating institution: Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Global Diagnostic Modelling Group
Persons involved:
QS_I WP4 | Biogeochemische Modellierung des Treibhausgasaustauschs in Ökosystemen
In work package 4 (WP4), the biogeochemical process model LandscapeDNDC is used to determine the sources and sink strength of agricultural areas (grassland and arable land) and forest areas. Data and maps from the Thünen Institute and remote sensing data sets are used as input data (WP2). Results from the existing ICOS and TERENO networks are used for calibration and evaluation. The a priori estimates obtained with high spatial and temporal resolution are used directly for the inverse modelling of Module M.
Participating institution: KIT IMK-IFU, Working Group Terrestrial Bio-Geo-Chemistry
Persons involved:
QS_II | Agri-For-Live: Modelling greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, forestry and livestock farming in Germany
The joint project Agri-For-Live associated with ITMS with the partners KIT IMK-IFU, Thünen Institute and FZJ Jülich deals with three central aspects of ITMS.
- High temporal and spatial resolution of activity data from agriculture, forestry and land use (AFOLU),
- Emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) from livestock farming
- Biogeochemical modelling of GHG exchange processes in agricultural and forestry ecosystems to improve the spatial and temporal resolution of bottom-up GHG inventories.
For more information, please see the Agri-For-Live webpage.
Participating institutions:
- KIT IMK-IFU, Working Group Terrestrial Bio-Geo-Chemistry
- Thünen Institute, Institute of Forest Ecosystems, Thünen Institute, Institute of Climate-Smart Agriculture, (Working Group on Emission Inventories)
- FZJ Jülich, Stochastic Analysis Terrestrial Systems working group
QS_II | Agri-For-Live: Modelling greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, forestry and livestock farming in Germany
Due to the heavy agricultural utilisation of peatlands, they have lost their original carbon storage effect, and CO2 is released on a large scale. This means that peatlands are a source of greenhouse gases that should not be underestimated and whose exact source and sink strength over the course of the year cannot yet be visualised on a large scale. However, this is of great importance for an integrated analysis such as that taking place within the framework of ITMS.
Through the further development of empirical and process-oriented modelling approaches, MODELPEAT is developing tools to provide ITMS with GHG emissions from peatland soils in unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution.
For more information, please see the MODELPEAT webpage.
Participating institutions:
- HSWT, Peatland Science Centre
- KIT IMK-IFU, Terrestrial Bio-Geo-Chemistry