CSUMB / NASA Ames Cooperative Agreement

Department of Applied Environmental Science

Terrestrial Ecosystem and Carbon Simulation Modeling

The terrestrial Ecosystem and Carbon Simulation Modeling is one of the 6 tasks of the Ames Cooperative for Research in Earth Science and Technology (ARC-CREST) agreement, along with the CSUMB Educational Program; Agriculture, Health, and Marine Applied Science; NASA-HQ Support; Disaster Management; and Ecological Forecasting / NASA Earth Exchange (NEX). The main focus of the ARC CREST Carbon research group is the study of trace gas fluxes (CO2, CH4, N2O and NO) and plant production at global and regional scales. The NASA-CASA (NASA-Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach) model, or the scaled-down version of the model called CASA Express, is used to model the terrestrial fluxes. The NASA-CASA model is one of a few satellite coupled global models that simulates controls over terrestrial production processes, interactions of trace gas flux components through nutrient substrate availability, soil moisture availability, temperature stress, soil texture and microbial activity.

Collaborators

CSUMB Research Scientist: Vanessa Brooks Genovese