CALIPSO project: Carbon Loss In Plants, Soils and Oceans
The fate of carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning and deforestation plays a critical role in determining atmospheric CO2 levels and, consequently, climate change. Earth System Models (ESMs) project a non-linear response of the natural carbon cycle, which weakens both land and ocean sinks in response to warming. This leads to a steeper rise in atmospheric CO2, but the magnitude of this amplifying carbon-climate feedback varies significantly among current ESMs, hindering accurate climate projection.
The overall objective of CALIPSO is to take a giant leap in the representation of carbon loss processes in ESMs, focusing on three critical knowledge gaps in the global carbon cycle.
- Tree biomass: Accurately predicting mortality and carbon losses during drought and fire events, harnessing revolutionary new satellite data and Machine Learning (ML) techniques.
- Soil carbon: Advancing our understanding of carbon decay, recycling processes, and nutrient stoichiometric limitations in soils and their impact on carbon stocks.
- Marine Biota: Investigating the efficiency of diverse marine microbial communities in decomposing organic matter and the recycling and deep export of carbon by diverse virus and zooplankton communities.
The CALIPSO team brings extensive and complementary skills required for integration from carbon cycle observations to ESM implementation, ML and theoretical developments. IPSL-LSCE and IPSL-ENS are part of IPSL Climate Modelling Center which is the long-standing hub for technical and scientific expertise for the ESM development in Challenge 4.