The Full Picture

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Earth observation contributions to

assessing Australian terrestrial ecosystems,

carbon stocks and greenhouse gas emissions

Gary Richards, Australian Greenhouse Office;

Alex Held & Peter Caccetta, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

ustralia is a heavy user of earth observation data. Uses

include ocean and coastal monitoring, climate and

weather assessment and modelling, water resources moni-

toring, and terrestrial mapping and monitoring. Several ground

facilities have been established over the last 30 years across the

continent to receive satellite-data. Australia has also maintained

strong involvement in international programmes that aim to

provide improved access to data, especially by countries that do

not operate space-based observing systems. Such international

programes include the Committee on Earth Observing Satellites

(CEOS), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the

Integrated Global Observing Strategy (IGOS), the Global Ocean

Observing System (GOOS), the Global Terrestrial Observing

System (GTOS) and many more. Australia is also a

founding member of the inter-governmental Group

on Earth Observation (GEO) partnership, and shares

its vision to implement a Global Earth Observation

System of Systems (GEOSS).

Australian experts take part in key GEO terrestrial appli-

cations tasks to improve, through more efficient Earth

observation, sustainable management and protection of

global natural and managed ecosystems. The scope of

these tasks includes understanding, monitoring and

conserving biodiversity, reducing loss of life and prop-

erty from natural and human-induced disasters; and

adapting to climate variability and change. These same

goals are being accomplished in Australia in coopera-

tion with international programmes, through

development of modern, earth observation, natural

resources assessment programmes and information

dissemination systems. These national monitoring

programmes now help underpin evidence-based envi-

ronmental policy implementation.

One of the largest users of earth observation data in

Australia is the National Carbon Accounting System

(NCAS), which includes land-cover mapping and moni-

toring in support of national reporting of greenhouse gas

emissions and carbon stocks to the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

For this, Australia has developed a comprehensive,

model-based assessment of dynamic patterns of sources

and sinks, informed by remotely sensed information. The

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

guidelines

propose a comprehensive approach to emis-

sions reporting, including both natural and anthropogenic

emissions, but only considering managed lands.

Consistent with the intent of the UNFCCC to monitor

anthropogenic emissions, emissions from unmanaged

lands are considered to be predominately natural, and are

not reported. Unmanaged lands are subject to potentially

large-scale natural disturbances, such as wildfires, which

can lead to large emissions and changes in carbon stocks.

Reporting of both all emissions and identification of

anthropogenic-only emissions can be achieved simulta-

Tasmanian Earth Resource Satellite Station (TERSS) near Hobart

Photo: CSIRO

OCIETAL

ENEFIT

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