ITMS- User Meeting at the German Environment Agency (UBA)
The ITMS user meeting 2025 at the German Environment Agency(UBA) in Dessau-Roßlau focused on technical exchanges with federal institutes. Discussions centred on how ITMS results can be explicitly used for future national emissions reporting.
An in-depth exchange with the federal institutes responsible for Germany's greenhouse gas inventories took place for the third time on 15 and 16 September 2025 as part of the ITMS user meeting at the German Environment Agency (UBA) in Dessau-Roßlau.
These meetings aim to systematically incorporate the perspectives of the institutions responsible for national greenhouse gas inventories – the UBA and the Thünen Institute – into the project, and to discuss requirements, questions, and feedback on the Integrated Greenhouse Gas Monitoring System for Germany (ITMS) in a direct exchange.
In addition, the progress made in the project enables technical exchanges with other European greenhouse gas monitoring projects (e.g., PARIS) and the presentation of new approaches for improved mapping of sources and sinks. The focus was on how ITMS results can be used effectively for future national emissions reporting.
Integrated Greenhouse Gas Monitoring System for Germany (ITMS)
Since December 2021, the ITMS project has been funded by the Federal Ministry Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) (formerly the Federal Ministry of Education and Research). The project focuses on three key areas of research: atmospheric modelling, measuring atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, and analysing the sources and sinks of these gases. The Integrated Greenhouse Gas Monitoring System for Germany (ITMS) is creating a system that transparently and verifiably maps the emissions and sinks of the long-lived greenhouse gases carbon dioxide (CO2, methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O).
At the Campus Alpine of KIT IMK-IFU in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the Division Terrestrial Bio-Geo-Chemistry, headed by Ralf Kiese, is responsible for coordinating the "Sources and Sinks" (Q&S) module. He is supported by Clemens Scheer, Head of the research group "Landscape Fluxes" within the Division, and Hannes Imhof.
This module provides a priori estimates of greenhouse gas exchange between the land surface and the atmosphere. Together with observations from Module B, these data form an essential basis for inverse modelling in Module M, which can be used to represent the formation and distribution of greenhouse gases as accurately as possible in terms of location and time.
The aim is to establish an operational system to support national greenhouse gas reporting and provide a scientific basis for further climate protection measures in Germany.
Research on greenhouse gas emissions at KIT Campus Alpine
At the KIT IMK-IFU Campus Alpine, scientists are researching the origin and modelling of greenhouse gas emissions from various ecosystems, including arable land (including grassland), forests, moors, and watercourses. Modelling emissions from agricultural land using the process-based LandscapeDNDC model is already well advanced. Initial results and comparative studies on nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are already available.
Andrew Smerald is leading the development of a flexible modelling system based on LandscapeDNDC for agricultural systems (arable land and grassland). Hassane Moutahir and Rüdiger Grote are contributing their expertise in forest modelling to quantify greenhouse gas emissions for forests in Germany.
Although LandscapeDNDC is already an established, process-based model, Sergey Blagodatskiy and Melanie Thurner are working on refining individual processes. These include modelling emissions from organic soils and peatlands within the framework of MODELPEAT and implementing frost-thaw events – short periods in spring when temperature fluctuations can lead to temporarily increased nitrous oxide emissions.
Ricky Mwanake is working intensively to improve greenhouse gas measurements from watercourses and to develop a method for calculating comprehensive greenhouse gas emissions. His work is making an essential contribution to integrating these emissions into the national monitoring of ITMS.
European cooperation
Beyond national research, the Bio-Geo-Chemistry Division is involved in the European research project PARIS (Horizon Europe 2020).
Clemens Weber and Benjamin Wolf are integrating findings from ITMS projects into European modelling approaches. This creates an active transfer of knowledge between national and European initiatives, which contributes to the further development of integrated modelling approaches.