Activities

Research exchange project title

Study on ecosystem GHGs exchange and its response to climate change in Northeast Asia

August 2022 – July 2027 (5 years)

(Japan) National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), National Research and Development Agency (Project Leader: Yoshiyuki Takahashi)

(China) Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Project Leader: Zhi CHEN)

(Korea) Seoul National University (Project Leader: HyunSeok KIM)

Scientists from Japan, China, and Korea will come together to carry out the following activities:

1) Interdisciplinary, cross-sector joint field observations (field campaigns): Improving the reliability of carbon and greenhouse-gas budget estimates is achieved through interdisciplinary and integrated combinations (ground-based observations, remote sensing, and modeling). Scientists from the three countries—who have extensive experience in flux measurements, ecological research, and global climate research—will use advanced technologies to conduct joint observations in specific terrestrial ecosystems.

2) Networking of flux measurements: Dozens of observation sites from the three countries’ flux networks (ChinaFlux, JapanFlux, KoFlux) will be integrated to deepen understanding of continental-scale terrestrial ecosystem patterns and processes. This will be achieved by building networks that assume functional types, watersheds, and transects of flux measurement sites.

3) Networking of field environmental control experiments: To deepen understanding of continental-scale carbon cycling and greenhouse-gas exchange processes and their responses to climate change, cross-regional comparisons of field environmental manipulation experiments will be conducted.

4) Model development, parameterization, and validation: We will focus on improving and developing an integrated data-fusion system that can be used across East Asian ecosystems. Based on observational data, model parameterization and validation will be performed against observational datasets at larger temporal and spatial scales.

5) Regional assessment and data integration: Using standardized data and models, scientists in each country will calculate their national carbon and greenhouse-gas budgets, integrate them, and estimate the regional budget for East Asia. These estimates will provide information on the potential of terrestrial ecosystems to mitigate global climate change and on sustainable ecosystem management approaches in East Asia.

6)Scientific meetings (seminars), short-term visits, and exchange researchers: Regular workshops and symposia will be held to discuss research progress and results and to make overall assessments. Active academic exchange with researchers and students will also be promoted through training programs.