Search the EPA Research Database

Project title

A Satellite-driven model to upscale Irish CO2 Net Ecosystem Exchange across terrestrial environments.

Primary Funding Agency

Environmental Protection Agency

Co-Funding Organisation(s)

n/a

Lead Organisation

University of Dublin, Trinity College (TCD)

Lead Applicant

John Connolly

Project Abstract

The Satellite-driven model to upscale Irish CO2 Net Ecosystem Exchange (ICONEEx) aims to use a combination of Copernicus and NASA Earth Observation (EO) data and measurements from in-situ eddy covariance flux towers (ECFT) to estimate Net Ecosystem Exchange of CO2 (NEE) across ~92% of Ireland’s terrestrial area (Environmental Protection Agency, 2022). NEE represents the balance between carbon assimilated through the process of Photosynthesis and that released through both Respiration. The project will focus on grassland, peatland, forests, and coastal wetland land cover types with the aid of the OSI/EPA national land cover map. The results will have a high spatial (10m) and temporal resolution (~1 week). It will build on the findings and recommendations from past and ongoing research, particularly in relation the identified knowledge gaps in assessing NEE in a spatial context. This proposal has the explicit support of ten experts in the GHG and the ECFT community in Ireland. The support of these experts is fundamental to this project as they have work on projects including PCAS, ICOS-Ireland, NASCO and other ECFT projects over the last couple of decades. Their role in the project is to provide the ECFT data, participate in several workshops related to the development and implementation of the ICONEEx model and to ensure that IPCC “good practice” is followed in development of the model. The model will be developed through the adaptation of the Pan Artic NEE model to Irish conditions and the application of new higher resolution EO datasets from Copernicus and NASA. The in-situ ECFT data will be use to develop, calibrate and validate the ICONEEx model using a light response curve and the Misterlich NEE function. Two model tracks will be developed in the project. In the first, NDVI and PAR data will be derived from Sentinel-2 and MODIS MCD18C1 and used to drive the model. In the second track, which is included due to the issue of cloud cover, a novel and innovative approach will be developed to derive a proxy NDVI from Sentinel-1, to supplement the Sentinel-2 optical data and facilitate high temporal monitoring of NEE across Ireland. This simple model will be implemented in Google Earth Engine. Copernicus Sentinel data form is a key component of Earth Engine’s Public Data Catalog. However, the MCD18C1 data needs to be uploaded to Google Cloud Storage. The results of the model will be validated using the validation data set. This proposal is innovative and the results can be used to support both short- and longer term environmental monitoring. It has the potential to be applied to other land cover types when the ECFT data becomes available. It could also be applied to other regions and potential at a global scale

Grant Approved

�354,505.50

Research Hub

Natural Environment

Research Theme

n/a

Start Date

31/03/2023

Initial Projected Completion Date

30/03/2026