Evaluation of the Carbon Budget Model of the Canadian Forest Sector 3(CBM-CFS3) Using the Canadian National Forest Inventory (NFI) Ground Plot Data.

The CBM-CFS3 is a model of forest carbon(C) dynamics that implements a Tier 3 approach of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for reporting C stocks and stock changes. One of the last steps (6 of 7) recommended in the 2006 IPCC Guidance for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, applicable to forest land use, is to evaluate model output against field data that is independent of calibration and ideally based on data from a monitoring network. The first sampling of the NFI ground plots was recently completed and the data compiled.  The NFI ground plots are a network of monitoring plots where standard sampling protocols were used to collect sufficient data to provide estimates for forest C pools directly comparable to almost every pool estimated by the CBM-CFS3. We describe our approach to evaluation of the CBM-CFS3 using the NFI ground plot data including special considerations to ensure that model simulations represent plot specific conditions, as accurately as is possible. Preliminary results will be shown with emphasis on the evaluation of black spruce and balsam fir in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.