Other Activities in the Priority Program

Research Plan > Related Research Projects

(In addition to what is listed below, it may become necessary to implement supplementary projects or terminate listed projects during the period of the five-year plan in accordance with the progress of the priority program.)

1.Global Environmental Monitoring of Climate Change

(1) Atmospheric and Oceanic Monitoring (Contact: T. Machida)

 We will use fixed and mobile platforms to observe the atmosphere and oceans in order to come to an understanding of the true state of the environment from a global perspective. We will collect high quality data through long-term monitoring that will contribute to research on clarifying the causes of global environmental change. In order to do that, we will do th following.

• terrestrial monitoring of greenhouse gases
• using scheduled freight ships to monitor greenhouse gases in the Pacific Ocean
• aircraft monitoring in Siberia
• establish a reference gas level for greenhouse gases

(2) Terrestrial Monitoring (Contact: N. Saigusa)

We will undertake observation of carbon budgets (carbon dioxide flux) for terrestrial ecosystems, observation of ecosystems, and monitoring of water quality in freshwater areas. We are contributing to domestic or international networks by providing our monitoring data.

• Carbon Balance Monitoring in Terrestrial Ecosystems
• remote sensing of forests

2. Environmental Database on Climate Change (Contact: T. Matsunaga)

 We are creating a database in order to collect and categorize fundamental data that can contribute to global environmental research and decision-making. We will acquire and classify data and results from monitoring in the field of natural sciences and projects from the field of social sciences. In addition, we will consolidate the multi-tiered databases from each field and develop and implement an integrated system so that the data can be accessed and acquired smoothly. Furthermore, we will develop tools that will assist in observations such as trajectory analyses and work to improve the usability of the system for researchers both within NIES and beyond. In order to do that, we will offer the following.

• global environmental (atmospheric, oceanic, terrestrial) monitoring database
• greenhouse gas emission scenario database
• climate/impact model database
• terrestrial carbon sink model database
• emission source database including greenhouse gases
• carbon flow database
• tools to assist in observation and analysis, provision and maintenance of data

3.Developing, maintaining, and operating systems to process observational data from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) (Contact: T. Yokota)

 We will develop, maintain, and operate a system to process (receive, process, reprocess, store, verify results of processing, and provide) the observational data from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT). In the period before the satellite is launched, we will develop and maintain the system. Once it is launched, we will process, reprocess, verify, store, and disseminate the data. Our goal is for the observational data to be used in advancing research on climate change.

 The above research and "Greenhouse gas observation from space and use of the observations to estimate global carbon flux distribution" constitute the NIES GOSAT Project, which is a part of the joint GOSAT Project involving by the Ministry of the Environment, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and NIES.

4.Integrating and Supporting Global Environmental Research on Climate Change

(1) Supporting the activities of the Global Carbon Project (Contact: S. Dhakal)

 As a member of the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) family, the Global Carbon Project (GCP) promotes research on a climate-carbon-human integrated system at the international level in order to develop a complete picture of the global carbon cycle, and to support carbon management based on sound science. Apart from overall coordination of GCP together with the Canberra Office, the Tsukuba Office of the GCP aims to contribute to the carbon management aspect of the global carbon cycle and is developing focused activities in the area of Urban and Regional Carbon Management. In addition, the Tsukuba Office coordinates and supports research activities in this field in Japan and serves as a link between Japanese and international scientific communities.

(2) Acting as a Collaborative Base for Climate Change Observation (Contact: T. Fujitani)

 Based on the Earth Observation Promotion Strategy adopted by the Council for Science and Technology Policy, the Climate Change Observation Office will act as a collaborative base in the field of climate change. It seeks to further collaboration with Japan's ministries and agencies in order to work towards needs-based observation and the creation of a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). We aim to (1) act as a coordinator among organizations involved in observation of climate, greenhouse gases, carbon cycle processes, impacts of climate change, etc., (2) create a core network of people in charge of the observations and related researchers, and (3) improve the dissemination of observational data.

(3) Development, analysis of the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory and its utilization for measures on climate change (Contact: Y. Nojiri)

 We will create and analyze the data from an inventory of Japan's greenhouse gas emissions and sinks and continuously work to improve the methodology. We will also support international discussions such as the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP) and contribute to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change by creating guidelines and emission factor databases while promoting domestic and international activities such as the implementation of capacity building projects.