By ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, Europe has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The aim of the experiment conducted in April 2007 in Southwestern France on the fluctuations in carbon dioxide levels was to establish a report on the carbon balance for the entire region through an intensive measurement and modeling campaign.
The goal of the European CarboEurope project is to better understand and quantify ground fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO2) at local, regional and continental scale. This project, supported by the European Union, brings together close to 60 partners in 17 European countries. The results of this project will have direct repercussions on our understanding of global warming. Furthermore, CarboEurope may also help reduce uncertainties concerning CO2 fluxes, an essential issue in discussions linked to the Kyoto Protocol.
Within the framework of a regional studies program, an intensive measurement and modeling campaign was undertaken in April 2007 in southwestern France. Scientists wished to study the relationship between atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and those linked to the uptake of CO2 by various different types of land cover (corn, forest growth, canola, wheat, grapevine, etc.).
Measurements were taken from an experimental set-up comprising 25 to 50-meter high instrumented towers in addition to numerous heat and CO2 flux measurement stations. For measurements in altitude, four instrumented aircraft, fitted with a number of instruments (wind profiler, radio soundings, sonic device), took CO2 measurements in the first 2,000 meters of the atmosphere. This atmospheric layer is essential to exchanges between the vegetation and the atmosphere. The Landes forest was chosen for the experiments for three reasons: low population density, proximity to the ocean and high levels of homogenous plant growth (large surfaces covered with corn crops and forest growth). These characteristics simplify the scientists' task when sampling CO2 over several types of plant cover and for studying flux movements on a regional scale.
With the centralization and online Internet deployment of CarboEurope data, researchers will soon be able to develop models and simulate small scale diurnal changes in CO2. It will then be possible to model the contribution of various ecosystems to the atmospheric fluctuations in CO2 concentration.
WEBLINKS
> Homepage of the CARBOEUROPE project
A complete description of the activities carried out in the framework of the CARBOEUROPE project
> A tutorial on Carbon Dioxide on Wikipedia
This short tutorial includes description of the physics governing the Carbon Dioxide generation and a series of links to other resources on the theme
> European Commission, DG Environment.
A resource describing Kyoto Protocol provisions in terms of Carbon Dioxide emissions and the way the European Union intends to implement them.
CONTACT
Annette Freibauer
Max-Planck-Institute for Biogeochemistry
P.O. Box 10 01 64
07701 Jena
Germany
afreib@bgc-jena.mpg.de