iLEAPS and the Eurasian boreal ecosystems

iLEAPS is the land-atmosphere core project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP). The scientific goal of iLEAPS is to provide understanding how interacting physical, chemical and biological processes transport and transform energy and matter through the land-atmosphere interface.

One of the key areas of interest for the iLEAPS community is the role of Eurasian boreal ecosystems in global climate regulation. On the one hand, northern forests are pools of terrestrial carbon and constitute a global sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide, thus contributing to attenuation of the greenhouse effect. On the other hand, boreal lakes and wetlands store large amounts of carbon, partially released as methane and other trace gases to the atmosphere during spring and summer. Importantly, the Boreal forested area is also a substantial source of new aerosol particles.

Earth Observation technology sheds light on boreal regions

The size and remoteness of boreal Eurasia, however, pose a challenge to quantification of both terrestrial ecosystem processes and their feedbacks to regional and global climate conditions. Moreover, human activities and climate changes occurred in the last few years have altered the natural equilibrium of the whole region, thus strengthening the need for an effective mapping and monitoring of surface-atmosphere exchange interactions.

In this context, the increasing capacities of Earth Observation (EO) technology plays a key role for improving global, regional and local observations and modelling of several key parameters and processes governing the land-atmosphere interfaces, especially over large regions such as the ALANIS area of interest.