CAALU National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Software Tool Stephen

CAALU National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Software Tool Stephen M. Ogle, Ph. D. Colorado State University Natural Resources Ecology Laboratory Fort Collins, Colorado USA Acknowledgements: Collaborators: Keith Paustian (Colorado State University), Linda Heath (US Forest Service), and Daniel Martino (Carbosur Consulting, Uruguay) Software Programmers: Mark Easter, Shannon Spencer, Gretchen Vanderburg, Ting Feng, and Aravind Sampath Funding: US AID, US EPA, and USDA-FS

Role in Capacity-Building Project • Provide expert guidance on agricultural soil C and soil N 2 O emission sources – Lead compiler for US inventories • Expanded to other sources in Agriculture and LULUCF with interest of Central American inventory compilers • Recognized existence of additional technologies that could make inventory process more transparent and easier to manage than worksheets • Developed GHG inventory software - CAALU

What is CAALU? • Software program designed to estimate emissions (sinks) from source categories in Agriculture and LULUCF Sectors – IPCC methods (96 GL, 2000 GPG, 2003 GPG LULUCF) • Has user-friendly interface guiding compiler through inventory process • Extends design of IPCC worksheets with data management capabilities (MS Access®) • Supports national reporting of GHG emissions to the UNFCCC

Key Advancements in CAALU for GHG Inventory Assessments • Activity Data Management – Data automatically linked with source categories • Accommodates IPCC Tier 1 and 2 Approaches – Including variable tier applications in single inventory • Explicit Quality Assurance/Quality Control Steps – Activity data entry, factor assignments and calculations • Archive of activity data, emission factors, and calculations – Self-contained database with all data and results – Institutional memory

Example of a CAALU Inventory Session

Module I: Enter activity data on agricultural, forestry and other land use practices Help buttons throughout program to guide inventory compiler through the process

Text File Spatial Data (Input to CAALU) (Digital) Export Sources: Remote Sensing Imagery, National Scale Mapping Projects (e. g. , soils), Land Use Surveys climate, soil, lutype, area TRM, HAM, CRO, 2919894. 20 TRM, HAM, FOR, 3359760. 83 TRM, HAM, GRA, 1041601. 15 TRM, HAM, SET, 3877. 62 TRM, HAM, WET, 143290. 34 TRM, LAM, CRO, 566015. 12 TRM, LAM, FOR, 2786199. 48 TRM, LAM, GRA, 92800. 60 TRM, LAM, SET, 3816. 94 TRM, LAM, WET, 73629. 06 TRM, VOL, CRO, 40697. 90 TRM, VOL, FOR, 127249. 06 TRM, VOL, GRA, 4463. 06 TRM, VOL, WET, 1821. 44 TRM, WET, CRO, 21314. 42 TRM, WET, FOR, 24314. 44 TRM, WET, GRA, 27586. 35 TRM, WET, SET, 315. 95 TRM, WET, 7699. 40 TMM, HAM, CRO, 20028. 59 TMM, HAM, FOR, 75022. 50 TMM, HAM, GRA, 1685. 64 TMM, LAM, CRO, 3131. 15 TMM, LAM, FOR, 7102. 60 TMM, LAM, GRA, 159. 96 TMM, LAM, WET, 472. 70 TMM, VOL, CRO, 11870. 78 TMM, VOL, FOR, 49932. 65 TMM, VOL, GRA, 899. 75

Enter additional activity data on agricultural and forestry practices Imported Spatial Data

Quality Assurance/Quality Control Step for Primary Activity Data Entry

QA/QC Items Review activity data Press OKentry if no to check for errors are found May export activity data and send to experts for additional review

Secondary Activity Data Entry

Example of additional data forestlands converted to other uses (i. e. , deforestation) Use of fire for clearing and age structure of previous forest

Module II: Assign default or countryspecific emission factors Complete QA/QC on Secondary Activity Data

Factors needed to estimate change in Compiler has option to biomass C stocks from deforestation assign defaults or country-specific values

Module III: Program calculates emissions (sinks) using equations from IPCC GL and GPG

Review results for biomass C Calculation to estimate changes in stock loss due to deforestation biomass C stocks from deforestation IPCC Equation

Module IV: Inventory compiler exports results into spreadsheets for reporting

Who are the users? • National Inventory Compilers – Ministry personnel/contractors in charge of national GHG inventory assessments • Currently developed for application in tropical America – Capacity-building effort in Central America • Could be applied to other regions of the world with some additional refinement

Key Refinements • Forest classification • Estimate uncertainties • Provide an interactive link to GIS software – Produce spatially-explicit map of results for different regions within a country, along with result worksheets – Approach 3 land use activity data (2003 GPG LULUCF) • Incorporate methods from 2006 IPCC GL • Develop a mitigation evaluation module (Module V) – e. g. , reducing deforestation by 20%

Thanks for your attention! More information: http: //www. nrel. colostate. edu/proj ects/ghgtool/