Core Projects

February, 2008

Guidelines and Review Methods for core projects are listed at the following links:

Core Projects Guidelines MSWord     Core Projects Guidelines PDF

Core Projects Review Methods MSWord     Core Projects Review Methods PDF

5-page descriptions of the three founding core projects are available upon request to Doug Alsdorf. These would be particularly useful to proposers of new CWC core projects.

Please feel free to email Doug Alsdorf if you would like to know the budgets of the following core projects. All budgets will be available to affiliates via a login procedure, which we expect to install by the end of March.

Led by Rattan Lal in collaboration with Anne Carey and Berry Lyons

Contact Rattan Lal

Summary

This project is designed to directly address the CWC carbon question, "How is the carbon cycle being disrupted by human activities (e.g., fossil fuel combustion) and how can the cycle be re-balanced to mitigate ACC and its adverse effects?" The overall goal of this core-CWC project is to study processes governing retention, turnover and coupled transport of carbon (C), water and nutrients in soils of terrestrial ecosystems in relation to land use, management and policy designs. Specific objective of the M-CITE is to directly address the question "how and by how much can the C cycle be balanced/off-set to mitigate the abrupt climate change (ACC) and its adverse effects through C sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems in general and world soils in particular".

The products and deliverables for this core project include a data bank on the current and potential rates and magnitude of C sink capacity in soils and ecosystems of diverse eco-regions covering biomes ranging from the tropics to artic climates; enhanced knowledge of land use and soil/vegetation management practices which lead to positive ecosystem C budget and mitigate the adverse impacts of ACC by off-setting emissions; development of a specific network of scientists involved in research on C sequestration in soils of managed and natural ecosystems; strengthening of the human resource capacity in measurement, monitoring and verification of C sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems for soil quality assessment and trading of C credits; demonstrating links between C sequestration in soils and other ecosystem services including advancement of food security (especially in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa), water quality, and biodiversity; and resolving the debate whether soil erosion on continental/river basin scale is a source or sink for atmospheric CO2.

The proposed M-CITE will be implemented through the C-Management and Sequestration Center (C-MASC). The latter is housed in SENR and managed under the auspices of OARDC. Since its inception in 2000, C-MASC has been strongly supported by industry (Tata Trust in India, OCDO and AEP in Ohio), the commodity groups (Corn and Soybean Growers Association, Scotts), and federal agencies (e.g., USDA, USDOE, USEPA). M-CITE will pursue funding from the Ohio Third Frontier project, NSF, and the Gates Foundation.

Led by Lonnie Thompson, Ellen Mosley-Thompson, and Bryan Mark

Contact Ellen Mosley-Thompson

Summary

This project is designed to directly address the CWC climate question, "Does human intervention have the potential to push the climate system such that abrupt changes become more frequent, intense and rapid?" This core project consists of three sub-projects, focused respectively on Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Andes, and the Himalayas. The basic questions to be addressed are: (1) Do human activities have the potential to push the climate system such that abrupt climate changes become more frequent, intense and rapid? (2) How rapid are the World's water towers retreating? These are the ice fields that provide critical water supplies during the annual dry season. (3) How will the loss of these water resources affect the natural ecosystems and human activities in the affected regions?

The products and deliverables from this project include scientific evaluation of the rate and volume of ice loss with future projections; insight to drivers of past ACC; annually resolved paleohistories; DEMs and moraine maps; better quantification of the impact of the ice loss on water availability on local people and their livelihoods and economy; capacity building with local scholars and their students who will gain research experience; provide local administrators with likely scenarios for water resources for planning purposes; media coverage; and several proposals to NSF.

Led by Doug Alsdorf in collaboration with Brent Sohngen and C.K. Shum

Contact Doug Alsdorf

Summary

This project is designed to directly address the CWC water question, "Do we have enough surface water to maintain society; i.e., what is the spatial and temporal variability in terrestrial surface water storage and how can we predict these variations more accurately?" The Surface Water Ocean Topograpy (SWOT, bprc.osu.edu/water) satellite mission concept is specifically designed to address CWC water questions. SWOT has been reviewed and approved by the National Academy's Research Council (NRC). While SWOT will not be launched for several years, there is also an opportunity to address CWC water questions with today's operating satellites. These missions will provide a rather coarse resolution measure of surface waters, compared to SWOT, but serve to provide a baseline measurement.

The products and deliverables for this project stem from a two-fold approach: (1) analyses of existing satellite data with a goal of understanding the present distribution of surface water and (2) development and implementation of a CWC hydrologic data processing center. We will use a basin-by-basin approach starting with the tropical Amazon and Congo basins which contain the world's largest rivers. The product and deliverables from this core project will have importance for policy and related economic questions.

The SWOT mission will attract global to local attention on OSU and the CWC. Hydrologic data from this mission and other satellites are expected to be of value to international and local water resource managers, global water cycle and climate modelers, those needing improved understanding of flood hazards, coastal communities concerned with sea level rise, and water policy researchers and conflict management.