@prefix skos: . @prefix ns0: . skos:prefLabel "M - O"@en ; a skos:Concept ; skos:narrower . ns0:altLabel [ ] ; skos:broader ; skos:prefLabel "NBIOME"@en ; skos:inScheme ; skos:definition """In the 1980's the world's space agencies initiated a long-term program called the Earth Observing System (EOS) Mission to Planet Earth. Its goal is to obtain a better understanding of how the planet Earth functions and how it changes with time, due to both natural and human-induced causes. As part of this mission, the NBIOME (Northern Biosphere Observation and Modelling Experiment) project was proposed and submitted to NASA by the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS) in 1988. It was approved as a 10 year program. The project is a cooperative effort involving CCRS, Forestry Canada, Agriculture Canada and a number of universities. It has been accepted as part of the Canadian Global Change Program co-ordinated by the Royal Society of Canada. NBIOME's principal objective is to increase our understanding of the role of terrestrial vegetation in the total Earth system and its changes with time. Its goal is to develop and adapt an observation system pertaining to a family of landscape and ecosystem models, backed by process understanding, to monitor, evaluate and predict the impact of global change on boreal ecosystems including forests, grasslands, wetlands and tundra. CCRS's contribution to NBIOME is to carry out the research, development and demonstration of the use of satellite data to contribute to the estimation of carbon pools and fluxes related to Canadian ecosystems. The remote sensing data is particularly valuable due to the broad spatial distribution of vegetation and its inaccessibility at northern latitudes where there are few settlements, limited road access and a short growing season. To achieve this goal an NBIOME Information System (NBIS) will be developed. Its specific objectives will be: 1. To develop a Vegetation Classification Algorithm based on satellite measurements as a principal data source and, using this algorithm, to produce a digital vegetation map of Canada as a baseline for determining future changes as well as for use in growth and succession models. 2. To develop a Phytomass Model for the vegetation of Canada and, using this model, to produce a map of total phytomass as input into a growth model. 3. To develop/adapt a vegetation growth model and, using this model, to produce digital maps of Canada showing gross primary productivity and net change in carbon storage for different years within the EOS time period. 4. To develop/adapt one or more Succession Models and, using these models, to produce digital maps of future vegetation distribution of Canada based on the extrapolation of observed trends and/or likely postulated scenarios of future climatic conditions. Further information is available from: Dr. Josef Cihlar, Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, 588 Booth Street, 4th Floor, Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA K1Y 0Y7, Telephone (613) 947-1265, FAX (613) 947-1385, INTERNET> cihlar@ccrs.emr.ca or, Prof Dennis Parkinson, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta CANADA T2N 1N4, Telephone (403) 220-7824, FAX (403) 289-9311. More details can also be attained from The Northern Biosphere Observation and Modelling Experiment Science Plan available from The Canadian Global Change Program Secretariat, c/o Royal Society of Canada, P.O. Box 9734, Ottawa, Ontario CANADA K1G 5J4, Telephone (613) 991-5639, FAX (613) 991-6996, INTERNET> wcsrsc@carleton.ca, web:cgcprsc."""@en ; a skos:Concept .