ALAMOD

Changes in carbon stocks in the soil and biomass of continental ecosystems will significantly affect atmospheric CO₂ levels and, consequently, the global climate. There is thus a pressing need to develop predictive models capable of accurately simulating such shifts. To test and validate these models, it is vital to have time-series data on carbon stocks. These crucial datasets are extremely valuable but challenging to obtain. Indeed, soil carbon stocks show little change at annual scales, making it necessary to monitor target sites or site networks for at least 10 years. At present, the French research community is gathering long-term carbon stock data for several sites and site networks. However, these datasets remain scattered and, in some cases, incomplete and/or hard to access.

The ALAMOD project has the following objectives: (1) identify and clean up datasets characterising soil and biomass carbon stocks within sites and site networks monitored directly by French researchers; (2) develop innovative methods utilising infrared spectroscopy and satellite imagery to fill gaps in these datasets; (3) make the datasets interoperable and facilitate access by constructing a data repository and portal; (4) use the datasets to compare models of ecosystem-level carbon dynamics developed by French researchers; and (5) improve these models or build new models with the aim of accurately simulating carbon stock dynamics across different spatial scales and vegetation cover categories.

ALAMOD will draw upon the data and expertise associated with several research infrastructures (e.g., AnaEE, IN-SYLVA, ICOS) that will be major project contributors. It will bring together French researchers who are using and developing models that simulate carbon stock dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems. This synergistic approach will yield an invaluable tool for model evaluation as well as new and powerful modelling approaches, guaranteeing that ALAMOD will have tremendous impacts on academic research and beyond.

Project coordinators: Bertrand Guenet (CNRS, LG-ENS), Pierre Barré (CNRS, LG-ENS), Antonio Bispo (INRAE, Info & Sols), Christian Pichot (INRAE, URFM), Tiphaine Chevallier (IRD, Eco & Sols), Philippe Peylin (CNRS, LSCE), and Antoine Versini (CIRAD, Recycling and Risk)

Partner institutions: French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE), University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne (URCA), French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), Paris Institute of Technology for Life, Food and Environmental Sciences (AgroParisTech), Sorbonne University (SU), University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ), University of Paul Sabatier Toulouse 3 (UPS), French National Institute of Geographic and Forest Information (IGN), IFP Energies Nouvelles (IFPEN), and French National Forests Office (ONF)

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