Articles | Volume 8, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-2315-2015
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-2315-2015
Development and technical paper
 | 
31 Jul 2015
Development and technical paper |  | 31 Jul 2015

Plant functional type classification for earth system models: results from the European Space Agency's Land Cover Climate Change Initiative

B. Poulter, N. MacBean, A. Hartley, I. Khlystova, O. Arino, R. Betts, S. Bontemps, M. Boettcher, C. Brockmann, P. Defourny, S. Hagemann, M. Herold, G. Kirches, C. Lamarche, D. Lederer, C. Ottlé, M. Peters, and P. Peylin

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Cited articles

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Short summary
Land cover is an essential variable in earth system models and determines conditions driving biogeochemical, energy and water exchange between ecosystems and the atmosphere. A methodology is presented for mapping plant functional types used in global vegetation models from a updated land cover classification system and open-source conversion tool, resulting from a consultative process among map producers and modelers engaged in the European Space Agency’s Land Cover Climate Change Initiative.
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