Carbon Emissions from Historical Land-Use and Land-Use Change

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Carbon Emissions from Historical Land-Use and Land-Use Change
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Annual net land-atmosphere carbon flux and net flux of carbon to the atmosphere due to land-use and land-use change (LULUC) are estimated using an integrated assessment model and three historical reconstructions of land use and land use conversion. The data span 1800-2010 and are aggregated for nine regions of the globe.

Key Strengths

Key Strengths

Carbon flux estimates are based on three data sets using a single model

Estimates include effects of the nitrogen cycle

Estimates include the effects of agricultural expansion, urban land, and wood harvest

Key Limitations

Key Limitations

Structural uncertainties due to the model are unknown

The effects of several key processes (including peat lands and shifting cultivation) are not included owing to lack of sufficient data

Please cite data sources, following the data providers' instructions
Dataset DOIs
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Hosted Climate Index Files
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Usage Restrictions
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Expert Developer Guidance

Expert Developer Guidance

The following was contributed by Prasanth Meiyappan (U Illinois), March, 2013:

The file contains historical estimates (1800-2010) of annual net land-atmosphere carbon flux and net flux of carbon to atmosphere due to land-use and land-use change (LULUC) as calculated using three distinct historical reconstructions of LULUC based on Meiyappan and Jain (2012).

Key Strengths:

1. Carbon estimates using Multiple data sets using a single model, allows to isolate and study LULUC data uncertainty from model related uncertainty.
2. The estimates include the effects of nitrogen cycle, which is relatively new for current generation of land-surface models.
3. This is the first time Houghton's regional data used in book-keeping model is used within a spatially explicit model to estimate carbon emissions (see article for details).
4. The estimates include the combined effect of agricultural expansion (cropland and pastureland), urban land and wood harvest.

Key Limitations:

1. The estimates are obviously subject to model uncertainties. How much the results would differ if the same LULUC data sets are used with a different model is a question to address.
2. It should be noted that while comparing with other studies, uncertainties could also arise due to difference in implementation of same land-use change data in the model apart from uncertainties due to structural differences in model. 
2. Several key processes contributing to terrestrial carbon emissions (e.g. peat lands, shifting cultivation) are not included in these estimates, due to lack of data at a global scale. 

Research Applications:

1. Primarily for model and data inter-comparison studies. This data forms a integral component in the Carbon Cycle chapter of the upcoming IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. 
2. Uncertainty quantification.#

Cite this page

Acknowledgement of any material taken from or knowledge gained from this page is appreciated:

Meiyappan, Prasanth & National Center for Atmospheric Research Staff (Eds). Last modified "The Climate Data Guide: Carbon Emissions from Historical Land-Use and Land-Use Change .” Retrieved from https://climatedataguide.ucar.edu/climate-data/carbon-emissions-historical-land-use-and-land-use-change on 2024-03-18.


Citation of datasets is separate and should be done according to the data providers' instructions. If known to us, data citation instructions are given in the Data Access section, above.


Acknowledgement of the Climate Data Guide project is also appreciated:

Schneider, D. P., C. Deser, J. Fasullo, and K. E. Trenberth, 2013: Climate Data Guide Spurs Discovery and Understanding. Eos Trans. AGU, 94, 121–122, https://doi.org/10.1002/2013eo130001

Key Figures

Climate Data Guide Image

The emission estimates are provided for 9 regions covering the entire globe. Contributed by P. Meiyappan.

Climate Data Guide Image

ISAM estimated global land-use emissions for the period 1900-2010 (GtC/yr) based on ISAM-HYDE, ISAM-RF and ISAM-HH data sets. Contributed by P. Meiyappan.

Climate Data Guide Image

ISAM estimated net land-atmosphere carbon flux for the period 1900-2010 (GtC/yr) based on ISAM-HYDE, ISAM-RF and ISAM-HH data sets. Contributed by P. Meiyappan.

Other Information

Earth system components and main variables
Type of data product
Dataset collections
None

Years of record
to
Data time period extended
No, data set not being extended
Timestep
Annual
Domain
Formats:
Input Data

Historical Land-Use and Land-Use Change reconstructions

Vertical Levels:
Missing Data Flag
Spatially complete
Ocean or Land
Land Only
Spatial Resolution

Regionally Aggregated

Model Resolution (reanalysis)
None
Data Assimilation Method
None
Model Vintage (reanalysis)
None