GEO-TREES

Forests store around 80% of Earth’s terrestrial carbon and capture roughly a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, making them a critical component of nature-based solutions for tackling climate change. However, significant uncertainties in estimating forest carbon storage continue to hinder large-scale investment in verified forest protection and restoration. Establishing a globally consistent system for measuring, reporting, and verifying forest carbon stocks and fluxes remains a major challenge due to the inherent complexity of forests and their dynamic nature. 

Space agencies, including the European Space Agency (ESA), have made substantial investments in Earth observation missions to map forest biomass across continents in support of climate science and carbon markets. However, satellites alone cannot generate accurate carbon maps, as satellite-based monitoring systems rely on ground-based field data to train models and validate their estimates. While many Earth Observation missions aim to estimate forest biomass from space, their calibration and validation are critical. Ultimately, trust in biomass maps requires accurate ground data. Supporting ground measurements and the people who make them is thus -critical for mapping and tracking Earth’s forest carbon. 

The Forest Observation System (FOS) platform is an international, collaborative initiative created in 2016, led by Dmitry Schepaschenko (IIASA) and Jérôme Chave (Toulouse University). It aims to establish a global in situ forest aboveground biomass (AGB) database to support Earth Observation and encourage investment in relevant field-based measurements and research. The FOS enables access to high-quality field data by partnering with well-established teams and networks responsible for managing permanent forest plots globally. In doing so, FOS benefits both the remote sensing and ecological/forestry communities and facilitates positive interactions between them. 

IIASA is responsible for enhancing the Geo-Trees platform’s overall performance, data integration, and functionality. This includes improving the user interface and experience, updating the API and backend infrastructure, integrating data sources such as WMS layers, and ensuring open-source development with comprehensive testing to guarantee the reliable, efficient, and collaborative nature of the platform. 

Publications:

Schepaschenko, D., Chave, J., Phillips, O.L. et al. The Forest Observation System, building a global reference dataset for remote sensing of forest biomass. Sci Data 6, 198 (2019). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-019-0196-1#

Labrière, N., Davies, S.J., Disney, M.I., Duncanson, L.I., Herold, M., Lewis, S.L., Phillips, O.L., Quegan, S., Saatchi, S.S., Schepaschenko, D., Scipal, K., Sist, P., & Chave, J. (2023). Toward a forest biomass reference measurement system for remote sensing applications. Global Change Biology 29 (3) 827-840. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16497.