Data collection and analysis conducted as part of the CarbonARA project cover three process-related themes related to the science goals as follows:

I. Landscape Scale (non-Fire) GHG Fluxes

Under this theme, CarbonARA will collect, analyse, intercompare and interpret data designed to help reduce the uncertainty of (non-fire) landscape scale GHG fluxes found in Amazonian landscapes. The collected data will be of value in itself for the Science Goal of GHG Quantification and Verification, and also that of Satellite Validation and Interpretation. In future it will be utilised for the testing and improvement of models and model components related to the Amazonian carbon cycle.

II. Vegetation Processes and Carbon Storage

The primary aim within this Science Theme will be to collect, analyse and intercompare data collected by sensors that will help understand vegetation processes related to carbon fluxes and storage. Variables measured include evapotranspiration and SIF, and they will be studied in different Amazonian landscapes, over the diurnal cycle and across seasons from fixed tower-based installations. The work will be specifically designed to include the collection and interpretation of data able to be used as a point of comparison to satellite-derived datasets on the same phenomena, and – in future – the testing and improvement of environmental models that represent them.

III. Fire Magnitude, Emissions and Impact

The aim within this Science Theme will be to collect information related to the magnitude, seasonality and landcover-dependence of Amazonian fire emissions factors, in particular of GHGs, but where possible also other reactive gases and particulate matter. Ground based observations from both fixed instrumentation and a dedicated ‘roving measurement’ campaign, carried out coincident with an airborne campaign allowing measurements from lofted plumes of smoke that cannot be sampled from the ground or from small UAVs. The airborne data collection will also be used to evaluate satellite measurements of active fires and to better understand what different satellite datasets miss in terms of fire signatures and that is the impact of such errors of omission. These airborne data will provide measurements that can ultimately be used to improve our understanding of Amazonian fire GHG emissions overall, as well as emissions of other trace gases and particulates, and in terms of the latter also their impact on regional air quality and ultimately human health.