Rosenqvist, A.
REMOTE SENSING AND THE KYOTO PROTOCOL
- AWORKSHOP SUMMARY -
Áke ROSENQVIST!, Marc IMHOFF?, Anthony MILNE* and Craig DOBSON*
!Joint Research Centre of the European Commission
ake.rosenqvist@jrc.it
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, USA
mimhoff@ltpmail gsfc.nasa.gov
‘University of New South Wales, Australia
T Milne@unsw.edu.au
“University of Michigan
dobson@umich.edu
KEY WORDS : Kyoto Protocol, Remote Sensing, Verification, Compliance, ARD.
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background
The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change contains quantified, legally
binding commitments to limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels and allows carbon emissions to be
balanced by carbon sinks represented by vegetation. The issue of using vegetation cover as an emission offset raises a
debate about the adequacy of current remote sensing systems and data archives to both assess carbon stocks/sinks at 1990
levels, and monitor the current and future global status of those stocks. These concerns and the potential ratification of the
Protocol among participating countries is stimulating policy debates and underscoring a need for the exchange of
information between the international legal community and the remote sensing community.
On October 20-22 1999, two working groups of the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
(ISPRS) joined with the University of Michigan (Michigan, USA) to convene discussions on how remote sensing
technology could contribute to the information requirements raised by implementation of, and compliance with, the Kyoto
Protocol. The meeting originated as a joint effort between the Global Monitoring Working Group and the
Radar Applications Working Group in Commission VII of the ISPRS, co-sponsored by the University of Michigan. The
meeting was attended by representatives from national government agencies and international organizations and academic
institutions. Some of the key themes addressed were:
e Legal aspects of transnational remote sensing in the context of the Kyoto Protocol;
® A review of the current and future and remote sensing technologies that could be applied to the Kyoto Protocol;
e Identification of areas where additional research is needed in order to advance and align remote sensing technology
with the requirements and expectations of the Protocol.
e The bureaucratic and research management approaches needed to align the remote sensing community with both the
science and policy communities.
1.2. Remote Sensing and the Kyoto Protocol
While global inventory of all six greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol is an overarching goal and a
daunting task, it was recognized that, at present, the remote sensing community is best equipped to address CO, and CH,
Within the context of the Kyoto Protocol, Article 10 was recognized as the main driver, in which contributions can be made
to provide systematic observations and data archives in order to reduce uncertainties in the global terrestrial carbon budget.
Specific contributions can be made to supporting national and international networks and observation programs, especially
those that focus on the measurement of above-ground biomass, the mapping of land use and land cover and changes in land
use and land cover. The importance of Article 3 and Article 12 (the Clean Development Mechanism) of the Kyoto Protocol
were recognized, and that Earth Observation can help support national accounting of Afforestation, Reforestation and
Deforestation (ARD) under those articles.
1278 International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXIII, Part B7. Amsterdam 2000.
