2005 Chapman Conference on The Science and Technology of Carbon Sequestration

Chapman Conference on
The Science and Technology of Carbon Sequestration
Bahia Resort Hotel, San Diego, CA, USA

16 – 20 January 2005

Conveners
Program Committee
Conference Objective
Conference Overview
Format and Preliminary Schedule
Abstract Submissions
Travel Support
Registration and Information
Hotel Accommodations
Further Information

Conveners

  • Brian McPherson, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM, USA, E-mail: brian@nmt.edu
  • Eric Sundquist, United States Geological Survey, Woods Hole, MA, USA, E-mail: esundqui@usgs.gov

    • Program Committee

  • Peter Brewer, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, USA, E-mail: brpe@mbari.org
  • Joel Brown, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA, E-mail: joelbrow@nmsu.edu
  • Ken Caldeira, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, USA, E-mail: kenc@llnl.gov
  • Beverly Saylor, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA, E-mail: bzs@po.cwru,edu

    • Conference Objective

    The goal of this conference is to bring together scientists, engineers, and others who study long-term natural and deliberate sequestration of carbon. A particular focus will be methods and prospects for verification and assessment of sinks for anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2).

    Carbon sequestration is an important factor in consideration of policy options to mitigate the increasing atmospheric concentrations of anthropogenic greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). Significant quantities of anthropogenic CO2 are sequestered by natural carbon uptake in plants, soils, sediments, and the oceans. These uptake processes are objects of intense study by carbon-cycle researchers who seek to understand the historical and present-day carbon mass balance (“budget”) and to predict future interactions between carbon cycling and climate. At the same time, a rapidly growing group of scientists and engineers is examining methods for deliberate carbon sequestration through storage in plants, soils, the oceans, and geological repositories. Studies of natural and deliberate carbon sequestration have much in common, from development of measurement techniques to assessment of risks and benefits. This conference will bring together representatives of the diverse communities who are studying carbon sequestration, focusing on the topic from both basic science and technology perspectives.

    The application of science and technology to carbon research and management includes quantitative verification of carbon transfer and storage. The conference will provide a forum for discussion of current and prospective verification methods, ranging from project-specific monitoring to regional measurements and numerical analysis. Presentations will emphasize techniques that are credible and applicable to a broad spectrum of spatial and temporal scales. Verification will be discussed not only in relation to particular carbon sinks, but also as an essential tool for comparing diverse natural and engineered carbon transfers.

    Conference presentations will also emphasize the broader assessment of deliberate and natural sinks for anthropogenic CO2. Assessment procedures include verification of carbon transfers and storage, but also extend to more comprehensive evaluation of risks and benefits. Potential secondary effects or unintended impacts of deliberate sequestration will be examined in the context of potential impacts of natural sequestration. The meeting will feature assessment perspectives within the disciplinary range of science and technology, but selected presentations may also address relevant economic and societal issues in a nonpartisan fashion.

    A central objective of the conference is to promote the kind of integrated communication and analysis that is necessary to evaluate and compare diverse carbon management strategies.

    Conference Overview

    Carbon is removed from the atmosphere by terrestrial, oceanic, and geologic processes. The meeting will be structured to address these three general types of carbon sequestration. In each of these general areas, participants will be asked to respond to three questions:

    This unique conference will cover a broad, but tractable, set of issues, including the following:

    Format and Preliminary Schedule

    The conference will include four and a half days of presentations, discussions, and posters. Each day or half-day will be devoted to a primary topic as follows. Tentative subtopics are listed to suggest the breadth of each topic. The program committee will be responsible for organizing invited talks on each primary topic.

    Day 1 Morning Overview and Keynote Talks
    Day 1 Afternoon Verification and assessment of global carbon sources and sinks
     - uptake/emissions of CO2, CH4, CO from forests, agriculture, and energy production
     - long term observations of atmospheric, oceanic, vegetation and soil fluxes
     - global terrestrial, oceanic, and geologic carbon sources and sinks and their interactions
     - climate controls on carbon sources and sinks
     - impacts of anthropogenic sources and deliberate sinks on the natural carbon cycle
    Day 2 Potential capacity and temporal/spatial scales of terrestrial, oceanic, and geologic carbon storage
    - carbon storage capacity estimation methodologies
    - scale limitations on carbon storage
    - enhancement of carbon storage by value-added practices
    - definitional issues in carbon storage verification and assessment
    - technological gaps and barriers
    Day 3 Assessing risks and benefits associated with terrestrial, oceanic, and geologic carbon storage
    - terrestrial ecosystem impacts
    - ocean ecosystem impacts
    - impacts of geological carbon storage
    - other possible unintended impacts
    - risk assessment and management technology gaps and barriers
    Day 4 Predicting, monitoring, and verifying effectiveness of terrestrial, oceanic and geologic carbon storage
    - verification of carbon transfer and retention
    - effects of deliberate sequestration on natural carbon storage
    - accounting issues related to distinguishing deliberate and natural carbon storage
    - monitoring and verification technology gaps and barriers
    - influence of monitoring and verification technologies on risk assessment
    Day 5 Morning Summary discussions and keynote talks
    - session and poster highlights
    - summary presentation(s)
    - discussion of next steps
    - keynote talk(s)

    Abstract Submission Information:

    Abstract Submission Instructions
    Deadline: 22 October 2004

    ABSTRACT SUBMISSIONS BY E-MAIL: Compose your abstract on your E-mail software exactly as you would a normal message, using a MAXIMUM of 75 standard ASCII characters per line. Re-set your margins, if necessary, so that the text wraps from line to line, to avoid the insertion of hard returns. Follow the instructions below. A sample E-MAIL abstract is provided at the end.

    I) TITLE - The title of the abstract should be composed in a standard title format, capitalizing the first letter of all words of four or more letters. Insert one blank line after title. Please BOLD, but do not underline.

    II) AUTHOR BLOCK- The author block should contain the name of a presenting author that should be enclosed in brackets and asterisks, like so: [*I M First*]. If there is no presenting author, then input [*---*] at the beginning of the author block. Input your author block by typing the author's name, then putting their address, phone, fax, and e-mail information in parentheses, ( ). Do not put each author on a separate line, but rather, separate each author's information with a semi-colon (;). Leave one blank line after the author block.

    III) ABSTRACT TEXT - Special symbols or graphics should not be used in composing the abstract. Leave one blank line between paragraphs and after the body.

    IV) SUBMITTAL INFORMATION - This section is to record information about which meeting the abstracts being submitted to and to obtain contact information. Please provide the following:

      1. Title of meeting (Chapman Conference on The Science and Technology of Carbon Sequestration) (VERY IMPORTANT!)
    2. Indicate INVITED, CONTRIBUTED, or POSTER.
    3.
    a. Corresponding address: Give name, affiliation, and mailing address of the author to whom all correspondence regarding this abstract should be sent.
    b. Corresponding author's telephone number.
    c. Corresponding author's fax number
    d. Corresponding author's E-mail address.
    4. Indicate whether the first author is a student.

    V) SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACT - Send the abstract to the following E-mail address: mbrill@agu.org.

    VI) CONFIRMATIONS - Confirmations of received abstracts will be sent via electronic mail within one business day of submission. If you have not received confirmation, please call the AGU at +1-202-777-7331 or fax: +1-202-328-0566, or e-mail: meetinginfo@agu.org.

    SAMPLE E-MAIL ABSTRACT SUBMISSION:

    Remote Sensing of Alpine Snow Properties: A Review of Techniques and Accomplishments Using the Visible Wavelengths Through the Microwave

    [*J S Smith*] (Department of Geology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3060; ph. 805-893-2308; fax 805-893-2578; e-mail: imfirst@eos.ucsb.edu); A C Cohen (Hydrology Department, Watertown University, Watertown, MA 02172; ph. 413-789-1234; fax 413-789-1256; e-mail: ursecond@ocean.hydro.edu)

    Topography causes wide variations in the properties of alpine snow within small areas, and a knowledge of the spatial variation of many properties is essential for the application of distributed hydrologic models and for establishing the surface boundary condition for regional climate models. However, the topography affects the electromagnetic remote sensing signal by shadowing some terrain and by modifying the angles of incidence, emission, and reflection of the signal, and our knowledge of the elevation model is usually not precise enough to allow a priori calculation of the geometric relationships between the surface, sensor, and the Sun. Hence remote sensing algorithms must be robust to such uncertainties, except in areas where topographic knowledge is especially good. The most elementary snow property is the presence or absence of a snow cover, and snow mapping -- discrimination of snow from other types of surfaces and from clouds -- is best accomplished with a combination of visible and near-infrared wavelengths.

    1. Chapman Conference on Gravity Waves Processes and Parameterization
    2. Invited
    3. (a) J S Smith Department of Geology University of California Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3060 (b) 805-893-2309 (c) 805-893-2578 (d) imfirst@crseo.ucsb.edu
    4. No

    Travel Support:
        Application Deadline: 30 September 2004 has past.

    Applications are being made to several U.S. agencies to support travel of conference participants. Graduate students and young scientists will receive priority for funding.

    Registration is closed.

    Hotel Accommodations
    The location for this conference is the Bahia Resort Hotel in San Diego, California. Information about the hotel can be found at http://www.bahiahotel.com/. The hotel is offering a rate of $140.00 per night, for single occupancy, or $155.00 for double occupancy. Please call the hotel directly at +1.800.576.4229 to make your reservations. This rate will only be available until 9 December 2004.

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