Objective
The objectives of ESCOBA (European Study of Carbon in the Ocean,
Biosphere and Atmosphere) are to describe, quantify, model and
forecast the global carbon cycle, its response to the
anthropogenic perturbation and its interaction with the physical
climate system. Part A, Atmosphere aims to provide the
observational and modelling diagnostic tools needed to validate
and constrain direct and model derived estimates of carbon fluxes
between the atmosphere and the ocean or terrestrial carbon pools.
An observational program is conducted to record at several key
locations the concentration of atmospheric CO2 and its
13C/12C and 14C/C
isotope ratios, which provide constraints on the current distribution of
surface sources and sinks of CO2.
An atmospheric transport model is developed and applied in order to
relate the observations from the global staton monitoring network to the
large scale distribution of surface sources and sinks.
Variations of the past atmospheric CO2 concentration and its
13C/12C
ratio are determined from analyses on air-bubbles in polar ice cores.
These provide a means to assess the natural variability of the carbon cycle
during the Holocene and the industrial period.
A series of modelling studies of the past 30 years of direct
atmospheric observations is conducted, using coupled three-dimensional
carbon models of the atmosphere, ocean and terrestrial biosphere driven by
observed climate. These studies allow to quantify the regional
distribution of sources and sinks of CO2 and provide an
assessment of
carbon cycle feedbacks induced by climate fluctuations, in particular
during El Nino/Southern Oscillation events.
Using coupled carbon models of the atmosphere, ocean and terrestrial
biosphere, simulations of the atmospheric CO2 concentration
evolution are
performed given prescribed scenarios of future industrial emissions and
land use statistics.
Fields of science
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
20146 HAMBURG
Germany