The one-year project (2020-2021) involved the Cirad research unit AIDA.

The climate impact of land use change or land management is usually assessed through a quantification of soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration and greenhouse gases (GHGs) emisisons. However, SOC stocks and GHG emissions (biogeochemical effects) are not enough to fully assess the effect on global warming. Land use change or land management can alter the surface energy balance through a modification of different parameters such as the surface albedo, latent and sensible heat fluxes. Several authors have suggested that albedo change could increase or offset climate benefits of land use change or land management depending on the context.

The objectives of the LANCELOT project were to :

• Organize a field mission to Zimbabwe of INRAE colleagues from UMR Cesbio to install equipments to monitor albedo dynamics in the field.
• Organize an international workshop on the following topic : "Can albedo change offset the climate benefit of carbon sequestrating practices?"
• Organize a workshop with the development team of the STICS soil-crop model to identify research and development needs to better simulate albedo dynamics and energy budget of cropping systems.