Remote sensing and ecosystem modeling to simulate terrestrial carbon fluxes

The main goal of this thesis is the establishment of a framework to analyze the forest ecosystems in peninsular Spain in terms of their role in the carbon cycle. In particular, the carbon fluxes that they exchange with atmosphere are modeled to evaluate their potential as carbon sinks and biomass reservoirs. The assessment of gross and net carbon fluxes is performed at 1-km spatial scale and on a daily basis using two different ecosystem models, Monteith and BIOME-BGC, respectively. These models are driven by a combination of satellite and ground data, part of the latter being also employed as a complementary data source and in the validation process.