USE OF REMOTE SENSING PRODUCTS IN A TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS VERIFIED FULL CARBON ACCOUNT: EXPERIENCES FROM RUSSIA

The paper considers the specifics, strengths and weaknesses of available remote sensing products within major steps and modules of a verified terrestrial ecosystems full carbon account (FCA) of Russia's land. The methodology used is based on system integration of all available information sources and major methods of carbon accounting using IIASA's landscape-ecosystem approach for overall designing of the account. A multi-sensor remote sensing concept is a corner stone of the methodology being substantially used for (1) georeferencing and parametrization of land cover and its change, (2) assessment of important biophysical and ecological parameters of ecosystems and landscapes, and (3) assessment of the impacts of environmental conditions on ecosystem productivity and disturbance regimes. System integration and mutual constraints of remote sensing and ground information allow for substantially decreasing uncertainty of the FCA. In the Russian case-study, the net ecosystem carbon balance of Russia for an individual year (2009) is estimated with uncertainty at 25-30% (CI 0.9), that presumably should satisfy current requirements to the FCA at the national (continental) scale.