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Home | About | Programs | Interagency Partners | News | Events | Funding | Education & Outreach | Links | Documents |
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The U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Program addresses the global carbon cycle research theme in the Strategic Plan for the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (2003). A number of federal agencies are responsible for carbon cycle research; together, they have planned and are coordinating a multidisciplinary research strategy to integrate the broad range of needed infrastructure and resources, scientific expertise, and stakeholder input essential for program success and improved decision processes. This coordination is achieved through the Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group (CCIWG), which is responsible for the programs, funds, development, coordination, and integration of carbon cycle research across the federal government. The Carbon Cycle Scientific Steering Group (CCSSG), a panel of experts who are actively engaged in various aspects of carbon cycle science, provides the Carbon Cycle Science Program with continuous scientific guidance. The Carbon Cycle Science Program consists of three major activities: the North American Carbon Program, the Ocean Carbon and Climate Change Program, and the State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR, also known as CCSP Synthesis and Assessment Report 2.2).
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A U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Plan (Sarmiento and Wofsy, 1999), reflects the combined knowledge and insight of prominent carbon cycle scientists and well-informed science program managers in both academia and federal government. The vision is that an integrated interdisciplinary science, multi-agency partnership, new and advanced technology and advanced modeling approaches would yield better understanding of the carbon storage, sources and sinks in North America and adjacent ocean basins, and that the research would strengthen the scientific foundation for resource management and policy decisions in numerous areas of public in numerous areas of public interest. |
The Carbon Cycle Science Program Office, established by the CCIWG, assists in leading the Carbon Cycle Science Program and facilitates interagency cooperation in carbon cycle research through coordination of interagency business (e.g., policy, budget, personnel, strategic direction, work planning, and education). The Program Office staff (Roger B. Hanson, Director and Emily T. Cloyd, Interagency Working Group Coordinator) are responsible for providing direct support to the CCIWG co-chairpersons in matters associated with interagency activities, such as annual budget planning, fiscal matters, inventory of funded projects, and planning meetings and workshops. The Program Office Director represents the CCIWG on carbon cycle science issues with the U.S. Climate Change Science Program and the U.S. Global Change Research Program, and liaises with international carbon cycle science programs and organizations. The Program Office staff also supports the CCIWG in preparing, reviewing, and coordinating any reports or other documents as required; analyzing the scope and content of funded carbon cycle research projects and informing the CCIWG on project status, needs, and opportunities for enhancing research and coordination among research scientists and agencies; and communicating significant new findings to decision makers and the public.
The Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group (CCIWG), established under the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, has full authority for all Carbon Cycle Science Program policy and activities. The role of the CCIWG is to promote interagency cooperation and coordination, help secure funding, prepare individual and joint agency initiatives and solicitations, and involve the scientific community with the purpose of providing the needed science to understand the carbon cycle. CCIWG activities include, but are not limited to, meeting regularly to exchange agency information, implementing the Strategic Plan of the Climate Change Science Program, and revising A U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Plan as needed. In addition, the group represents agencies at program meetings, interfaces with the scientific community, initiates workshops, and links to international programs and organizations. The CCIWG, whose members represent ten federal agencies, coordinates the development and execution of federal research programs in carbon cycle research. Leadership of the CCIWG comes from senior-level managers of the participating agencies and ensures the success and continuity of the program.
Last update: July 8, 2008
The Carbon Cycle Scientific Steering Group (CCSSG), established by the Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group (CCIWG), is a group of experts involved in carbon cycle research and application from federal, state, university, and non-government organizations. The CCSSG interacts closely with the CCIWG and the Carbon Cycle Science Program Office. The function of the CCSSG is to provide individual as well as broad scientific and application input to the CCIWG as it develops and administers carbon cycle science programs within the federal government. The CCSSG provides input on the direction of the Carbon Cycle Science Program, scientific content and its relevance to the various stakeholder communities, identifying gaps and potential new areas of emphasis. The CCSSG will remain abreast of relevant issues in related scientific bodies and stakeholder communities and help ensure that the CCIWG is aware of these issues.
Last update: July 25, 2008
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North American Carbon Program (NACP) |
The North American Carbon Program (NACP) is designed to address strategic research question 7.1 in the U.S. Climate Change Science Program Strategic Plan:
It will quantify the magnitudes and distributions of terrestrial, freshwater, oceanic, and atmospheric carbon sources and sinks for North America and adjacent oceans; enhance understanding of the processes controlling source and sink dynamics; and produce consistent analyses of North America’s carbon budget that explain regional and continental contributions and year-to-year variability. This program is committed to reducing uncertainties related to the increase of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere and the amount of carbon, including the fraction of fossil fuel carbon, being taken up by North America’s ecosystems and adjacent oceans, including uncertainty regarding the fraction of fossil fuel carbon.
More information about NACP is available from the NACP website.
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The report on the North American Carbon Program (Wofsy and Harriss, 2002) provides the scientific rationale for a coordinated surface and space observational program, land and ocean observation and experimental study, numerical modeling, and data assimilation effort for the terrestrial, coastal ocean and atmospheric components of the carbon cycle over North America and adjacent ocean basins. The report was prepared at the request of the Carbon Cycle Scientific Steering Group (CCSSG) and the Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group (CCIWG). The report outlines a strategy to implement a principal recommendation of the U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Plan (Sarmiento and Wofsy, 1999). The central objective is to measure and understand the major reservoirs, sources, and sinks for carbon dioxide, methane, and carbon monoxide in North America. The goals are to develop quantitative scientific knowledge, robust observations, and advanced numerical models to determine the emissions and sinks of these gases, changes in carbon reservoirs, and the factors regulating these processes, and to develop the scientific foundation to implement full carbon accounting on regional and continental scales. This is the knowledge base needed to design effective monitoring programs for natural and managed carbon dioxide sinks and emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and carbon monoxide; to support long-term quantitative measurements of fluxes, sources, and sinks of atmospheric carbon dioxide, methane, and carbon monoxide; and to develop better forecasting capability for future trends. The program is also designed to advance science for other critical problems on the large-scale emissions, transformations, and long-range transport of pollutants; changes in species composition, health and productivity; the vulnerability to fire and drought of forests, croplands, and wild land; and forecasts of weather and climate. |
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The Science Implementation Strategy for the North American Carbon Program (Denning et al., 2005) builds on the NACP report (Wofsy and Harriss, 2002). The implementation strategy is organized around four major themes: diagnosis, attribution/process, prediction, and decision support. The results will contribute to an integrated and well-tested system for understanding, monitoring, and predicting carbon fluxes over North America and the adjacent coastal ocean, and for providing timely and useful information to scientists, agencies, policymakers and other stakeholders in the carbon cycle and climate change. |
The NACP Scientific Steering Group (NACP SSG), established by the CCIWG, provides leadership for the North American Carbon Program. The NACP SSG interacts closely with the CCIWG and the NACP Office. It also interacts with the CCSSG, the Ocean Carbon and Climate Change Scientific Steering Group, and the Carbon Cycle Science Program Office, as needed. The NACP SSG assists the CCIWG and NACP Office in implementing the NACP Science Plan, following recommendations outlined in the NACP Implementation Strategy (Denning et al., 2005) and working to assure that scientific returns are maximized.
Last update: July 25, 2008
Building upon an extensive set of U.S. and international community planning workshops and reports, the Ocean Carbon and Climate Change (OCCC) program was designed as an ocean component of the U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Program.
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Ocean Carbon and Climate Change: An Implementation Strategy for U.S. Ocean Carbon Research (Doney et al., 2004) provides the scientific rationale for a coordinated ocean surface and space observations, experimental study, numerical modeling, and data assimilation effort for the coastal ocean, ocean basins and atmospheric components of the carbon cycle over North America and adjacent coastal ocean and ocean basins. The report presents an integrated multi-agency, interdisciplinary science and implementation strategy for oceanic monitoring and research aimed at determining how much carbon dioxide is actively absorbed by the coastal ocean waters and how climate change will affect the future behavior of this carbon reservoir. The strategy consists of several coordinated and integrated elements on global ocean carbon observing networks, multidisciplinary process studies, data fusion and integration, synthesis and numerical modeling, and new technological development. While the program encompasses a wide breadth of ocean biology, chemistry, and physical research, the program promotes linkages and interactions with related ongoing oceanographic, climatic, and carbon cycle programs to address the full range of scientific elements relevant to marine carbon dynamics and the climate change (e.g., SOLAS, IMBER, CLIVAR, GLOBEC, GCP, and others). |
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The OCCC Scientific Steering Group (OCCC SSG), established by the Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group (CCIWG), provides scientific leadership for the OCCC Program. It interacts closely with the CCIWG, the Carbon Cycle Scientific Steering Group (CCSSG), and the Carbon Cycle Science Program Office, and is a part of the larger Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry Scientific Steering Comittee. The OCCC SSG assists the CCIWG in achieving the goals outlined in the OCCC Implementation Strategy. |
Last update: April 9, 2007
The carbon cycle chapter of the Strategic Plan for the U.S. Climate Change Science Program describes a vision to publish a series of government products on the status and trends of carbon emission and sequestration. The first of these reports, the State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR), was released by the US Climate Change Science Program on November 13, 2007.
The Terms of Reference for the first SOCCR (2003), prepared by the Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group and in consultation with the Carbon Cycle Scientific Steering Group, envisioned a report designed to provide accurate, unbiased, and policy-relevant scientific information concerning the carbon cycle to a broad range of stakeholders. The SOCCR Coordinating Team focused on (1) summarizing our knowledge of carbon cycle properties and changes relevant to the contributions of and impacts upon the U.S. and the rest of the world, and (2) providing scientific information for U.S. decision support focused on key issues for carbon management and policy. The report depends on results from comprehensive and informative programs, such as the North American Carbon Program and Ocean Carbon and Climate Change Program, and demands a global perspective, integrating information from studies on land and in the atmosphere and oceans around the world. The expected audience includes researchers, decision makers in the public and private sectors and the public.
To fulfill the scientific assessment requirement of the Global Change Research Act of 1990 and to enhance the utility of the observations and research products developed by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, the U.S. Climate Change Science Program Strategic Plan calls for a series of synthesis and assessment products. These assessment products are an effective means for integrating and analyzing past and current research results with other knowledge, and communicating useful insights in support of a variety of decision support issues and defining future science direction and priorities. As a part of this effort, the Carbon Cycle Science Program is contributing to Synthesis and Assessment Product 2.2, The First State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR): North American Carbon Budget and Implications for the Global Carbon Cycle.
This page last updated July 25, 2008 .
