Climate research in the Amazon rainforest: launch of the ATTOsynthesis project

The German-Brazilian ATTO project, which has been funded since 2009, receives further support from German Ministry BMFTR.

To the point

• Climate research: The German-Brazilian ATTO project will receive funding of around five million euros until 2028 to strengthen climate research in the Amazon rainforest.
• Important role: The Amazon rainforest is the largest forest on Earth and acts as an important CO₂ reservoir and hub for the global water cycle.
• Data analysis: Researchers at the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory regularly collect data to investigate the effects of climate change on the rainforest and improve climate models.
• International cooperation: Representatives of the German and Brazilian research ministries met to strengthen cooperation on the ATTO measuring tower and plan further projects.
• Threat to CO₂ storage: Current results show that the CO₂ storage function of the Amazon is endangered by deforestation. 

The Amazon rainforest plays a central role in the global weather and climate system: with its huge area of around 5.5 million square kilometers, it is the largest forest on earth and therefore has the potential to act as a gigantic CO₂ reservoir. It is also an important hub for the global water cycle, as large quantities of water evaporate through the trees, for example. This makes a decisive contribution to cloud formation and ultimately has an impact on global precipitation.

But how exactly is climate change affecting the Amazon rainforest? And what consequences does this have for the global climate? To obtain answers to these questions, researchers from all over the world regularly collect and evaluate data from the atmosphere at the 325-metre-high Amazon Tall Tower Observatory, or ATTO for short. The Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), together with the Brazilian Ministry of Research MCTI, made it possible to set up this research infrastructure in 2009. In addition to this start-up funding, the Federal Ministry of Research also supports German research institutions in climate research on site. The ministry is currently expanding this commitment and is investing a further five million euros in the “ATTOsynthesis” research project over the next three years.

ATTO is currently the most important global platform for atmospheric research in the rainforest and is contributing to many new scientific findings. Under the project coordination of the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Jena, the researchers in the new “ATTOsynthesis” research project are focusing on obtaining further measurement data from the atmosphere and making it directly usable for digital climate and ecosystem models that depict the interplay between the ecosystem and atmosphere. Over the next three years, for example, the researchers plan to adapt climate models specifically to the Amazon region and use the data obtained from new measurements at the ATTO tower to adjust the models. The newly adapted models should significantly improve predictions of the effects of climate change on the rainforest.

Research ministries from Germany and Brazil reaffirm their commitment

At the start of the current ATTOsynthesis research phase funded by the BMFTR, representatives of the German and Brazilian research ministries met at the MCTI in Brasilia. The joint meeting served to strengthen collaboration between the two countries on the ATTO measurement tower and to explore new opportunities for cooperation. In addition to the funding of the ATTOsynthesis research phase from the German side, there was also news from Brazil: the Brazilian Ministry of Research MCTI and the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development CNPq will also be funding climate research within the framework of ATTO with corresponding projects over the next five years.

Is the future of the Amazon rainforest as a huge CO2 reservoir at risk?

In recent years, scientists have been able to obtain important results for climate research thanks to observations and measurements at the ATTO tower. The latest results of the ATTO research show, for example, how the function of the rainforest as a reservoir of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO₂) is under threat. According to scientific studies by ATTO researchers, the Amazon rainforest as a whole is currently still a so-called sink and therefore a reservoir for atmospheric CO₂. However, there are major regional differences in the Amazon region and beyond. For example, some regions bordering the Amazon to the east, which are particularly affected by deforestation, are already emitting so much CO₂ that this offsets the absorption of the greenhouse gas in this region. These and other research findings will help to take timely measures to halt this negative trend and thus preserve the function of the Amazon rainforest as a major CO₂ reservoir.

This press release was kindly provided by the BMFTR and translated by us.