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CASMOFOR

version 4.0
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CASMOFOR: CArbon Sequestration MOdel for FORestations
- an accounting model to assess
the removals and emissions of carbon by afforestations

developed by Zoltán Somogyi, 2002-2010.
Hungarian Forest Research Institute, Budapest

NOTE: use screen resolution of 1280*1024 or higher to run CASMOFOR!

CASMOFOR stands for CArbon Sequestration MOdel for FORestations. It was built to enable one to assess how much carbon is sequestered in a system of forests and primary forest industry over time in the Hungarian forests, under the Hungarian site conditions. Afforestations may be very useful and cheap means of mitigating climate change. Given that large potentials for afforestations and reforestations are predicted for Hungary (ÁESZ, 1999, see some more detailes here), it seemed paramount to develop a model that, because of its rich country specific information base, can better be used to arrive at accurate carbon sequestration estimates than any other model currently available internationally. Such a model is necessary as it takes informed decisions to launch a large-scale program. CASMOFOR was designed to help decision makers by allowing one to analyse many issues. Please refer to the Analysing results section that demonstrates what types of questions can be easily answered by running CASMOFOR.

CASMOFOR is, however, rather a modeling framework that could be used in any country where appropriate data is available to model basic forest processes like tree growth and decomposition, as well as to model forest management. The model has a user-friendly interface to calibrate the model to standard forestry situations. Thus, the model could easily be adapted to other countries' needs.

CASMOFOR was developed as a reaction to climate change, and to join efforts on mitigating the adverse effects of this human-induced phenomenon. One of the many means of mitigation is afforesting or reforesting large fields. To know how much it helps, one needs information on the carbon fixation capacity of forestry systems - this information can be obtained from and by CASMOFOR.

CASMOFOR is an MS Excel based system of spreadsheets with MS Visual Basic macros. The model uses Hungarian yield table data, wood density data, many data and information on how stands are managed in Hungary, as well as some 20 other constants, factors and other data that are, or are not, species and site specific, and that must be used to model the carbon cycle of forests. Many of the data are country-specific; however, not all parameters are available for the Hungarian conditions, or not for each species, which means that there is still plenty of room for development. (In such cases, data from literature or IPCC default values are used.)

CASMOFOR comes with a substantial help system. The text is written in two languages: English and Hungarian. A considerable effort was made to document the whole model, and to provide the user with some information on the accuracy of estimates so that the functioning of the model and its results are as transparent as possible. The knowledge base of the model is easy to be surveyed. The help system also contains a lot of useful documents and links that can be used by the user to obtain much relevant information related to climate change, mitigation, and modeling the C-cycle of forests.

CASMOFOR produces graphs and data. The graphs are MS Excel graphs that can be copied to other applications and modified according to needs.

The list of latest publications and presentations on the model and its use can be found here.


When developing CASMOFOR...

version 1 (2002) version 2 (2006) version 3 (2008) version 4 (2010)

This webpage was last modified by Zoltan Somogyi 22 April 2011.

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