The work focused in four key areas: development of the services, implementation of the pilot services, dissemination and communication including user interaction, and market development. The project was carried out in two phases. The phases included user interaction, service development, service piloting, and analysis of the results. Based on the experiences and feedback from the first phase, all elements of Forest Flux service were further developed in the second phase. The services and the promotional material were updated and the promotion to win a large group of potential users was intensified based on the feedback from the users.
Three service types were developed: forest structural variable services, carbon storage and flux services, and organizational carbon balance services. For each service type, several products were specified reflecting the user requirements for forest management planning and carbon inventory. The forest variables that are computed with Forest Flux include traditional structural variables such as biomass-related variables, annual increment, and major tree species. The carbon flux variables were annual Gross Primary Production (GPP), Net Primary Production (NPP), and Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE). Earlier carbon flux models were extended to temperate and sub-tropical vegetation zones and verified with flux tower data.
Forest Flux production chain was implemented on the scalable Forestry TEP cloud platform. The software tools for the processing chain were developed to a level that enabled automated map production with uncertainty assessment. This meant updating of existing Forestry TEP services, implementing software that was available outside the Forestry TEP, and completely new software modules on the platform. The implemented tools were integrated in one processing chain using JupyterLab notebook and the Representational State Transfer (REST) Application Programming Interface (API) provided by Forestry TEP.
Quality assurance procedures were defined for all elements of Forest Flux services. The quality assurance system was developed in the first project phase and it was refined in the second phase. Specific software was developed for the quality assurance of the forest structural variable estimation and category classifications.
Computed products were mostly digital maps with supporting quantitative figures such as statistical data on uncertainty. They were provided for nine user organizations and sites in Europe, South America, and Africa. The sites represented managed boreal and temperate natural forest, eucalyptus plantations, and a sub-tropical reforestation site. In total, approximately 1200 map products were delivered.
User communication included training of the users regarding the pilot products, collection of their feedback, updating their expectations for the Forest Flux services, and preparation of service agreements. The communication with the users was conducted through bilateral workshops.
The emphasis on wider dissemination and communication was on project web pages during most part of the project. The Covid-19 pandemic forced abandoning of most face-to-face communication and changing it to on-line from March 2020 until the end of the project. The project web pages (forestflux.eu) were and are still updated regularly.
A commercial service entity for forest structural and carbon flux variables is available from Forest Flux. It is based on the business plan that was a key deliverable of the project.
