The Mission of the Terrestrial Carbon Process (TCP) program is to provide increased scientific knowledge of terrestrial components of the global carbon cycle – for the purposes of accurate predictions of atmospheric carbon dioxide change, evaluating terrestrial sources and sinks for carbon dioxide, and assessing effectiveness of ecosystem processes for controlling and squestering carbon dioxide.

Program Description
The Terrestrial Carbon Processes (TCP) program supports efforts to identify and quantify the cycling of carbon through important terrestrial ecosystems in efforts to better predict the role of these systems in climate change.  These efforts focus on changes in the carbon dioxide source and sink activity of terrestrial ecosystems in response to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and climate change.

Components of field and modeling activities include:

• Carbon (CO₂) flux and biometric measurements in terrestrial ecosystems for evaluating changes of carbon quantities.
• AmeriFlux, the network of CO₂ flux, for directly estimating net ecosystem production (NEP), and carbon sequestration by terrestrial ecosystems.
• Free Air CO₂ Enrichment (FACE) studies – large-scale, multi-disciplinary field experiments to evaluate the responses of terrestrial plants and ecosystems to increased concentrations of atmospheric CO₂ and changing climate variables.
• Mechanistic terrestrial carbon models for evaluating the role of the biosphere in atmospheric CO₂ changes, and the influence of climate and other feedbacks on the biogeochemical cycle of carbon.

Solicitations
The program is not presently soliciting research proposals.

Future grant solicitation notices will be posted on the DOE Office of Science Grants and Contracts Web Site and at grants.gov. Information about preparing and submitting applications, as well as the DOE Office of Science merit review process, is at the DOE Office of Science Grants and Contracts Web Site.

The most recently closed solicitation (Notice 06-11) sought research proposals to provide scientific knowledge of terrestrial components of the global carbon cycle for (i) providing accurate predictions of atmospheric CO2 change; (ii) quantifying terrestrial carbon sources and sinks and how they are changing in relation to other atmospheric, climatologic and hydrologic influences; and (iii) assessing terrestrial feedbacks on carbon cycle and climate. The solicitation considered applications on measurements, experiments and modeling to provide improved quantitative and predictive understanding of the terrestrial carbon cycle processes that can affect atmospheric carbon dioxide changes and thereby affect the carbon dioxide forcing of climate.

Why the Program's Research is Important
The terrestrial biosphere is a major factor influencing the transport and concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gasses (including carbon dioxide).  Current limitations of our understanding of carbon cycling through terrestrial ecosystems account for significant uncertainties in projections of future climate scenarios.  This program seeks to identify critical carbon cycle pathways, provide quantitative explanations for those pathways and integrate the resulting process understanding into coupled models of global and regional climate.

More Information about the Program and Its Accomplishments

Ameriflux program
FACE program
Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC)

Abstracts

Currently funded program research projects

Program Manager

J. Michael Kuperberg, Ph.D.
Climate and Environmental Sciences Division, SC-23.1
U.S. Department of Energy, GTN Bldg.
1000 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20585-1290
Phone: (301) 903-3511
Fax: (301) 903-8519
Email: Michael.Kuperberg@science.doe.gov