KECK INSTITUTE FOR SPACE STUDIES

       

Workshop: Managing Soil Organic Carbon for Climate Change Mitigation - Multiscale Quantification Through Remote Sensing, AI and Biogeochemical Models

August 28 - September 1, 2023
California Institute of Technology - Pasadena, CA 91125

Workshop Overview:

Mitigating climate change by halting (and then reversing) the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is a critical challenge which must be addressed by all sectors of the global economy, including how we manage land. Historically, carbon stocks in agricultural soils have been deleted through degradative management; by adopting new regenerative management practices, farmers and ranchers can rebuild carbon stocks and improve soil health and sustainability. Hence, soils have the potential to contribute as a ‘carbon sink’ to reduce CO2 levels in the atmosphere as part of global ‘decarbonization’ efforts. However, effective policies and programs to incentivize soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration efforts require the development of robust, cost-effective tools to quantify soil carbon stock change and greenhouse gas emissions.

Soils offer an attractive ‘natural capital solutions’ approach to atmospheric CO2 removal and climate change mitigation, but accurately quantifying soil organic carbon (SOC) stock changes (and hence CO2 removal) at landscape to regional scales is a major challenge. Our workshop will be used to develop a credible framework for a comprehensive SOC data analysis, modeling and prediction system that will enable accurate tracking of SOC changes from landscape to regional and national soils. The workshop will review the current state-of-the-art in model-data systems for soil carbon measurements, assess key knowledge and technical gaps, and develop an operational blueprint for a novel integrated modeling and data fusion system that can be applied at landscape to regional scales.

Our workshop goal is to design a novel, scalable SOC quantification platform that integrates remote sensing, field experimental and on-farm monitoring data, with linked process-based and machine-learning ensemble modeling, data assimilation/fusion of remote sensing observations and farm scale activity data.


Monday, August 28, 2023
Sharp Lecture Hall - Arms Building (Building #25) - Caltech

Short Course: Understanding and Empowering Soil Management as a Climate Mitigation Option
Introductory Lectures - Open to all interested students, researchers and faculty

Time
Event
Speaker
8:15 - 8:45

Coffee and Refreshments

8:45 - 9:00

Introductions

Jessica Neu
Keith Paustian

9:00 - 9:45 Climate, GHG mitigation and CO2 removal - a role for soils? David Schimel
9:45 - 10:30 Dynamics of soil organic C and soil GHG emission in agriculture - environmental and management drivers Hanna Poffenbarger
10:30 - 11:00 Break
11:00 - 11:45 Measurement and modeling of soil C and soil GHGs? Stephen Ogle
11:45 - 12:30 Earth observation of C dynamics of agricultural landscapes Christian Frankenberg
12:30 - 1:30 Short Course Ends: Informal Lunch is provided outside short course location

Invitation-Only Workshop Begins
Keck Center - Think Tank, Room 155

1:30 - 1:45 Walk to Keck Center, pick up badge and welcome packet, find seat in the Think Tank
1:45 - 2:30 Introduction to KISS and Workshop Logisitics

Jessica Neu

Janet Seid

2:30 - 3:00 Participant Introductions KISS/ Team Leads
3:00 - 3:30 Study vision and goals for this workshop Team Leads
3:30 - 4:00 Break
4:00 - 5:00 Finalize study vision and workshop goals via plenary discussion - discuss potential high impact opinion publication from workshop outcomes

Team Leads

5:15 - 5:30 Solicitation of Lightning Talks

Team Leads

5:30 - 6:00 Pack up and walk to the Athenaeum

All

6:15 Dinner at the Athenaeum

Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Keck Center - Think Tank, Room 155

Time
Event
Speaker
8:00 - 8:30 Institute Opens - FREE THINK TIME
8:30 - 9:00 Coffee and Refreshments at Keck Center
9:00 - 9:15 Logistics and Team Lead Goals for the Day

Bethany Ehlmann

Janet Seid

Christian Frankenberg

9:15 - 10:00 Remote sensing for informing on soil C and GHG dynamics - current capabilities and future needs Kaiyu Guan
10:00 - 10:30 Potential Lightning Talks - e.g., near-surface systems, capabilities for direct RS of soil C, RS of management variables

TBD by participants

10:30 - 11:00 Break
11:00 - 11:15 Selection of Breakout Groups and Topics All
11:15 - 12:30

Breakout Groups

Groups
12:30 - 2:00 Group Picture and Lunch at the Athenaeum
2:00 - 2:45 Report outs from breakout groups (15 mins each) Groups
2:45 - 3:15 Lightning Talks (2-3) TBD by participants
3:15 - 3:30 Selection of Breakout Groups and Topics All
3:30 - 4:00 Break
4:00 - 5:30 Breakout Groups Meet Groups
5:30 - 7:30 POSTER SESSION and Informal food truck dinner at the Keck Center
(dinner starts at 6:30 pm)

Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Keck Center - Think Tank, Room 155

Time
Event
Speaker
8:00 - 8:30 Institute Opens - FREE THINK TIME
8:30 - 9:00 Coffee and Refreshments at Keck Center
9:00 - 9:15 Logistics and Team Lead Goals for the Day

Janet Seid

Steven Mirsky

9:15 - 9:45 Report Outs from Breakout Groups (10 mins each) Groups
9:45 - 10:30 Model-based systems for soil carbon and GHG quantification

Bruno Basso

Sabine Grunwald

10:30 - 11:00 Break
11:00 - 11:45 Potential Lightning Talks - e.g., knowledge-guided machine learning, data assimilation methods, incorporation of new theoretical insights, digital twin technology TBD by participants
11:45 - 12:30 Selection of Breakout Groups and Breakout Groups meet All
12:30 - 2:00  Lunch at the Athenaeum
2:00 - 3:30 Breakout Groups Meet All
3:30 - 4:00 Break
4:00 - 4:45 Report outs from breakout groups (15 mins each) Groups
4:45 - 5:30

Plenary Discussion on Participant Wants and Needs

Selection of Next Day's Breakout Groups

All
5:30 Workshop Day #3 Ends All
6:00 Dinner on your own

Thursday, August 31, 2023

Keck Center - Think Tank, Room 155

Time
Event
Speaker
8:00 - 8:30

Institute Opens - FREE THINK TIME

8:30 - 9:00

Coffee and Refreshments at Keck Center

9:00 - 9:15 Logistics and Team Lead Goals for the Day

Janet Seid

David Schimel

9:15 - 10:00 An integrated quantification system - requirements and design

Keith Paustian

Ed Riedel

10:00 - 10:30 Potential Lightning talks - e.g., implementing cross-scale uncertainty assessment, digital soil modeling to improve estimate of soil property driving variables, ground-truthing methods for soil C quantification TBD by participants
10:30 - 11:00 Break
11:00 - 12:30 Break Out Sessions All
12:30 - 2:00

Lunch on your own

2:00 - 2:30

FREE THINK TIME (individual, or self organizing small groups)

All
2:30 - 3:15 Report outs from breakout groups (15 mins each) Groups
3:15 - 3:30 Plenary Discussion, Selection of Breakout Groups All
3:30 - 4:00

Break

4:00 - 5:30 Break Out Sessions Groups
5 :30 Workshop Day #4 Ends All
6:00

Dinner at the Athenaeum


Friday, September 1, 2023

Keck Center - Think Tank, Room 155

Time
Event
Speaker
8:00 - 8:30

Institute Opens - FREE THINK TIME

8:30 - 9:00

Coffee and Refreshments at Keck Center

9:00 - 9:15 Logistics and Team Lead Goals for the Day

Janet Seid

Bruno Basso

9:15 - 10:00 Breakout Groups Report Out All
10:00 - 10:30 Open Discussion of Breakout Group Recommendations and Path Forward to the Second Workshop All
10:30 - 11:00 Break
11:00 - 12:15 Open Discussion of Breakout Group Recommendations and Path Forward to the Second Workshop - action items assigned, etc. All
12:15 - 12:30 Workshop Closeout

Janet Seid

Keith Paustian

Bruno Basso

Christian Frankenberg

Steven Mirsky

David Schimel

12:30

Formal Workshop Concludes

12:30 - 1:30

Informal Lunch Box in the Courtyard

12:30 - 5:00

INFORMAL WORKSHOP SMALL GROUP COLLABORATION TIME - Planning team for 2nd workshop; core writing team for opinion piece

5:00

Institute Closes


Workshop Participants:

  • Bruno Basso – Michigan State University 
  • Eren Bilir – JPL  
  • Renato Braghiere – Caltech
  • David Brown – JPL
  • Nimrod Carmon – JPL
  • Eric Ceschia – National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment
  • Susan Crow – University of Hawaii, Manoa
  • Avi Flamholz - Caltech
  • Ames Fowler – Michigan State University  
  • Christian Frankenberg – Caltech 
  • Alan Franzluebbers – USDA Agricultural Research Service 
  • Ruby Fu – Caltech 
  • Sabine Grunwald – University of Florida
  • Kaiyu Guan – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign  
  • Ryan Hodges - USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service 
  • Brooke Hunter – University of Oregon 
  • Jyoti Jennewein – USDA Agricultural Research Service
  • Zhenong Jin – University of Minnesota
  • Mike Lamb – Caltech
  • Steffen Mauceri - JPL  
  • Steven Mirsky – USDA Agricultural Research Service 
  • Dianne Newman – Caltech
  • Stephen Ogle – Colorado State University     
  • Keith Paustian – Colorado State University 
  • Hanna Poffenbarger – University of Kentucky 
  • Alexandre Rechon – Caltech 
  • Ed Riedel – JPL  
  • David Schimel – JPL
  • Alex Sessions – Caltech  
  • Even Thaler - Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Sheng Wang - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
  • Yakun Zhang - University of Wisconsin