Global Terrestrial Observing System linking the world’s terrestrial monitoring systems to provide a global vision of the Earth we share

GTOS Mission Statement To provide policy makers, resource managers and researchers with access to the data they need to detect, quantify, locate, understand and warn of changes (especially reductions) in the capacity of terrestrial ecosystems to support sustainable development.

Focuses on five issues of global concern: 1. Changes in land quality 2. Availability of freshwater resources 3. Loss of biodiversity 4. Impacts of climate change 5. Effect of pollution and toxicity

GTOS Sponsors Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) International Council of Science Unions (ICSU) United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

Key GTOS Partners Countries (Europe, Southern Africa, South Asia) Research institutes and universities Global change programmes (GCOS, GOOS, IGBP ... ) Committee of earth observation satellites Framework convention on climate change Convention on biodiversity

The global observation hierarchy 1. Large-area experiments 2. Long-term research centres 3. Field stations 4. Periodic, unstaffed sample sites 5. Frequent low resolution remote sensing

Regional / National Networks GT-Net Structure GTOS Secretariat Steering Committee (GTSC) GT-Net Panel Ecology-Net Coastal-Net Glacier-Net Hydrology-Net Southern Asia Africa Thematic Networks Regional / National Networks Central Europe

GT-Net Members Arab Centre for the Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD) Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) Chinese Ecosystem Research Network (CERN) Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Fluxnet International Cooperative Programme on Integrated Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Ecosystem (ICP IM) Organismo Autonomo Parques Nationales Réseau d’Observatoires de Surveillance Ecologique à Long Terme (ROSELT) UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) US Long-term Ecological Research Networks (LTER) Worldwide Network of Biosphere Reserves (MAB-BR)

GTOS System of Networks: GT-Net Objective: to link existing terrestrial monitoring networks in order to carry out studies of regional and global environmental change. Key activities: to share and exchange environmental data; to define policies on data and information access; to develop standards for metadata and in situ data; to undertake demonstration projects (the first one on Net Primary Productivity).

GT-Net demonstration project GT-Net will undertake projects which demonstrate the value of linking existing networks by generating data sets which are useful in studying global change. It will serve as a test bed for collaboration among networks and sites, including data sharing and exchange, and obtaining the experience needed for further development of GT-Net

GT-Net demonstration project The first project will concentrate on improving current estimates of global terrestrial primary productivity. It will adopt a hierarchical approach and use models which combine satellite data with in situ observations. A set of products, which have Net Primary Production (NPP) as their common foundation, will be produced. The NPP project will: (1)distribute a standard global NPP product to regional networks for evaluation; and (2) derive regionally specific crop, range and forest yield maps for land management applications.

Net Primary Productivity The calculation of NPP requires input data which are valuable long-term observations in their own right: Land cover Leaf Area Index (LAI) Net primary productivity Soil water holding capacity and nitrogen content Temperature Rainfall

GTOS-NPP Critical vegetation variables of LC, LAI and NPP are measured at local and regional scales, and used to validate the global satellite based estimates. NEP measurements provide a separate validation and translation of the carbon budget based NPP to estimate commodity yields (with local weather data if available).

Terrestrial Ecosystem Monitoring Sites TEMS Meta-database A register of long-term terrestrial observation sites around the world Information on more than 700 sites Searchable on the Web: http://www.fao.org/gtos/ Supporting the NPP project

Value-Added of GTOS Framework to link terrestrial databases, sites, networks Improved access to terrestrial data & information Better collaboration between ecological networks Filling gaps in key observations Stronger links between science and policy Faster response to emerging issues Harmonization of measurements & terminology