The Land Representation in the IPCC Inventory Software

A Guide
IPCC TFI Side Event, UNFCCC SB 58
6 June 2023, Bonn, Germany
Sandro Federici, IPCC TFI TSU

IPCC Inventory Software Guide to Land Representationo First Iterationo Description of functionalities
to be used to input a land
representation in the IPCC
Inventory Software

The Land Representationo In a national GHG Inventory, estimates of land-related GHG emissions and removals are basedon the consistent representation of land across the inventory time serieso Land Representation deals with:
I. Classification of land according to bio-physical -climate, soil, vegetation- and socio-economic-use, management (e.g. age-class)- variables aimed at identifying units of land more homogenous
for C stocks levels and dynamics[Land use categories/subcategories/subdivisions]
II. Identification and tracking across the inventory time series of units of land –i.e. land areawith same current and historical classification–[Area data to estimate C stock changes andother GHG emissions]o Consistency of I and II across the inventory time series is key to ensure unbiasedness ofestimates

The Land Representationo A consistent land representation is a time series of annual area estimates of units of land, as
disaggregated according to variables of stratification, that reports:• The land classification methodology is consistent across the entire time series -no artifact
land conversions caused by changes in the classification method/background-data• The total area of the territory is reported and it is constant across the entire time series• For Approaches 2 & 3:
✓ In each year Y, all units of land under conversion are reported within the Land under conversion relevantcategories until the end of the transition period (D)✓ In each year Y, all units of land that did not undergo a conversion in the last Y-D years are reported within theLand remaining relevant categories

Land use categories/subcategories/subdivisions

The Land Use Managero It is the First step when preparing a GHG inventory for land-related sources/sinks
o It deals with Input of subdivisions to the 12 main land subcategories••••••

managed Forest land - unmanaged Forest land
annual Cropland - perennial Cropland
managed Grassland - unmanaged Grassland
managed Wetlands - unmanaged Wetlands
Settlements (Treed) - Settlements (Other)
managed Other land - unmanaged Other lando There is not a limit to the number of subdivisions that can be input
o It applies the IPCC Climate and the IPCC Soil classifications, although user-specificclassifications can be input and applied insteado It ensures consistency in the land categories/subcategories/subdivisions across theinventories time series (although it does not deal with the methodology for land classification)

Biophysicalparameters

Tier 2parameters

Adding/removingsubdivisions

C-stockrelatedparameters

Area data to estimate land’s sources/sinks

The Land Representation Managero Allows to use any of the three IPCC approaches:• Approach 1 -no land use change identification• Approach 2 -land use change identification• Approach 3 -land use change identification and tracking across timeo Ensures consistency of land representation• Discrepancy-checking in area data input• Tracking of unit of lands across the time series - spatially explicit tracking under Approach 3o Identifies each unit of land through the identification codeo It is composed by 3 Tabs:• Regions• Land Representation table• Annual land representation table

The Land Representation Manager

Regions Tab

o The territory inventoried can be reported under 1 Region only or under a number of Regions

o For each Region to be input:• Name• Area –it cannot change across the inventory time series–• Approach for Land Representation –to be selected among the 3 IPCC Approaches–o Thus, the IPCC Inventory Software builds a consistent land representation for each of theRegions of an inventoried territory

The Land Representation Manager

Land representation table Tab
All land use
categories/subcategories/subdivisions
Including thehistorical

Input
Transition period
to each conversion
Tier 2parameters
Selectmethodology foreach C pool

Area data to estimate land’s sources/sinks

The Land Representation Manager

o Area data are automatically transferred to relevant worksheets where GHG emissions/removals
from land-related activities are estimatedThe Land Representation Manager

Annual land representation matrix Tab

IPCC Inventory Software Guide to Land Representationo Download it athttps://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/software/index.html

o Next iteration, a step-by-step
description
ofa
land
representation input to be
addedThank you
https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/software/index.html
ipcc-software@iges.or.jp