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Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) process-based models are important tools for estimating and reporting greenhouse gas emissions and changes in soil C stocks. There is a need for continuous evaluation, development and adaptation of these models to improve scientific understanding, national inventories and assessment of mitigation options across the world. To date, much of the information needed to describe different processes like transpiration, photosynthesis, plant growth and maintenance, above and below ground carbon dynamics, decomposition and nitrogen mineralization. In ecosystem models remains inaccessible to the wider community, being stored within model computer source code, or held internally by modelling teams. Here we describe the Global Research Alliance Modelling Platform (GRAMP), a web-based modelling platform to link researchers with appropriate datasets, models and training material. It will provide access to model source code and an interactive platform for researchers to form a consensus on existing methods, and to synthesize new ideas, which will help to advance progress in this area. The platform will eventually support a variety of models, but to trial the platform and test the architecture and functionality, it was piloted with variants of the DNDC model. The intention is to form a worldwide collaborative network (a virtual laboratory) via an interactive website with access to models and best practice guidelines; appropriate datasets for testing, calibrating and evaluating models; on-line tutorials and links to modelling and data provider research groups, and their associated publications. A graphical user interface has been designed to view the model development tree and access all of the above functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: There are a number of methods that can be used to help assess carbon budgets at the site to continental scales. Eddy covariance (EC) networks have been developed over the last decade and have been used to make many advances in our understanding. However, eddy covariance measurements of CO2 and water vapour exchanges quantify the fluxes only on short time scales, but do not assess the impacts of long-term processes that contribute to biogeochemical cycling in croplands, such as harvest or residue removal and other management practices, so many other supplementary measurements are required to attribute different components of the carbon flux. Such methods include isotope studies, chamber flux measurements of C and other greenhouse gases, inventories of above- and below-ground biomass as well as management in- and outputs, book-keeping modelling, process modelling, experimental manipulation and earth observation (e.g. remote sensing). In this review, we summarise the component fluxes that make up the total cropland carbon budget, describe the key fluxes and methods used to estimate them, and examine how they need to be integrated to obtain the net ecosystem carbon budget of European croplands. We describe the uncertainties and difficulties inherent at each stage and how these can be minimised. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]