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GCP e-NEWS Feb 2003

1. OCEAN CARBON COORDINATION WORKSHOP

The first workshop on coordination Ocean Carbon Observations from Ships of Opportunity and Repeat Hydrographic Sections was organized by the GCP and the IOC-SCOR CO2 Panel, and held in Paris, 13-15 January 2003. Maria Hood and Chris Sabine provided the scientific and organization leadership.

The goals of the workshop were to (i) develop a compilation and synthesis of large-scale ocean carbon observation activities and plans; (ii) promote the full integration of large-scale carbon studies into the planning activities of international research programs (e.g., CLIVAR, OCEANS, SOLAS); (iii) Identify and coordinate regional-scale science groups (e.g., PICES WG17, CARINA) to critically examine the scientific balance, quality and completeness of these programs with reference to global-scale research needs; and (iv) organize international groups to promote acceptance of Standardized Measurement techniques, and improved accessibility to international carbon data sets. For more information and outcomes of the workshop: http://ioc.unesco.org/ioccp/

 

2. RAPID ASSESSMENT OF THE CARBON CYCLE

The Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) and the GCP ran the workshop on the Rapid Assessment Project of the Carbon Cycle (RAPCC) on 2-7 February 2003, Ubatuba (Brazil). The RAPCC will provide a state-of-the-science assessment, consisting of 23 brief background papers and 5 major synthesis papers, published as a fast-track book due in November 2003. The book will be presented in a side-event at the FCCC-CoP9 in Italy. The meeting was a synthesis of interdisciplinary understanding and a platform for enabling the next generation of interdisciplinary advances under the new GCP research agenda. For more information: http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/Meetings/index.htm

 

3. GERMAN CONTRIBUTION TO THE GCP

The German Committee on Global Environmental Change Research has shown interest in providing funding to German scientist to contribute to the research agenda of the GCP. In particular, there is a strong interest on the coupling of natural and social sciences including a strong technological component (i.e., energy systems). A meeting took place in Kiel (Germany), 10 February 2003, to explore possibilities for developing a proposal.
For more information: Karin Lochte - klochte@ifm.uni-kiel.de

 

4. EUROPEAN TERRESTRIAL CARBON CONFERENCE

CarboEurope and the GCP are organizing an open science conference on 19-21 March 2003, Lisbon (Portugal). The focus of the conference will be on: (i) The terrestrial continental carbon budget (methodologies, results, uncertainties), (ii) Process understanding – where does the carbon go?, (iii) Carbon management, full greenhouse gas budgets; and (iv) Integrating carbon science in Europe and beyond. For more information: http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/Meetings/index.htm

 

5. EMERGENT PROPERTIES SESSION AT THE EGS-AGU-EUG MEETING

A session on Emergent Properties of the carbon-climate-human system, which was motivated by the GCP activity of the same name, is being organized for the upcoming EGS-AGU-EUG Meeting between 6-11 April 2003 in Nice (Italy). Peter Cox and Pierre Friedlingstein are the co-conveners. A number of invited papers on model-derived insights that emerge when two or more of these subsystems are coupled together will shape the final agenda of this session. The papers will encompass models of all complexities (box model to GCM) and motivations (toy-model to integrated assessment model).
For more information: http://www.copernicus.org/EGS/egsga/nice03/programme/overview.htm or contact:
Peter Cox - Peter.Cox@metoffice.com

 

6. IMPROVED QUANTIFICATION OF TERRESTRIAL GLOBAL CARBON FLUXES

The Terrestrial Carbon Observation initiative (TCO of GTOS) and the GCP will jointly organized a workshop to increase the availability of more accurate and mutually consistent estimates of the distribution of C sources and sinks at a regional and global level. The meeting will take place on 3-6 June 2003 in Sheffield (UK) with the following objectives: (i) What carbon cycle data products could be routinely produced from a carbon observation system based on model-data and model-data fusion?; (ii) What are the main conceptual approaches to assimilating atmospheric C content, terrestrial carbon flux and remotely sensed data into coupled atmospheric circulation-carbon cycle models?; and (iii) In what regions, and on what topics, will new data inputs make the largest contribution to reducing the residual uncertainties?.
For more information: http://www.fao.org/gtos/meetSHE.html

 

7. INSTITUTE ON URBANIZATION, EMISSIONS, AND THE GLOBAL CARBON CYCLE

The GCP is now a formal sponsor of the Advance Institute on Urbanization that the global change SysTem for Analysis, Research and Training (START) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) are organizing at NCAR in Boulder, Colorado, from 4 – 22 August, 2003. This Institute is designed to convene young natural and social scientists, engineers, and urban planners to critically examine the most environmentally significant interaction of cities with their environments. This institute will be critical to the development of the “Urban development” activity in the GCP. For more information: http://www.start.org/Projects/Training_Institutes/Institute2_Urban_Carbon.html, or contact, within the GCP: Oran Young - young@bren.ucsb.edu or Louis Lebel - llebel@loxinfo.co.th

 

8. SPECIAL ISSUE ON TERRESTRIAL CARBON SINKS

From the last year co-sponsored Wengen-series workshop on “Quantifying Terrestrial Carbon Sinks”, a special issue on Climatic Change is now being prepared by a group of guest editors that include Pep Canadell, Philippe Ciais, Martin Heimann, and Peter Cox.

 

9. LATEST GCP PPT PRESENTATION

For the latest GCP ppt presentation, please check: http://globalcarbonproject.org/about/index.htm

 

10. INQUIRIES

For any other information on the GCP, please contact Rowena Foster [ Rowena.Forter@CSIRO.au ] at the GCP Project Office in Canberra, Australia.

Kind regards.

Pep Canadell
Executive Director
http://www.globalcarbonproject.org

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