Today’s estimates of carbon stocks present large uncertainties. Information on the three-dimensional structure of vegetation is crucial to produce accurate estimates of carbon stocks and to understand the role of natural and human-made disturbances in carbon flows. The Joint Global Carbon Cycle Center research focuses on the development of algorithms to estimate vegetation structure at local, regional, and global scales to feed ecosystem models. The Joint Global Carbon Cycle Center research also works in the development of new satellite missions aiming to monitor vegetation structure from space.