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Can Current Earth Observation Technologies Provide Useful Information on Soil Organic Carbon Stocks for Environmental Land Management Policy? SUSTAINABILITY 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/su132112074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Earth Observation (EO) techniques could offer a more cost-effective and rapid approach for reliable monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) of soil organic carbon (SOC). Here, we analyse the available published literature to assess whether it may be possible to estimate SOC using data from sensors mounted on satellites and airborne systems. This is complemented with research using a series of semi-structured interviews with experts in soil health and policy areas to understand the level of accuracy that is acceptable for MRV approaches for SOC. We also perform a cost-accuracy analysis of the approaches, including the use of EO techniques, for SOC assessment in the context of the new UK Environmental Land Management scheme. We summarise the state-of-the-art EO techniques for SOC assessment and identify 3 themes and 25 key suggestions and concerns for the MRV of SOC from the expert interviews. Notably, over three-quarters of the respondents considered that a ‘validation accuracy’ of 90% or better would be required from EO-based techniques to be acceptable as an effective system for the monitoring and reporting of SOC stocks. The cost-accuracy analysis revealed that a combination of EO technology and in situ sampling has the potential to offer a reliable, cost-effective approach to estimating SOC at a local scale (4 ha), although several challenges remain. We conclude by proposing an MRV framework for SOC that collates and integrates seven criteria for multiple data sources at the appropriate scales.
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Sannigrahi S, Pilla F, Basu B, Basu AS, Sarkar K, Chakraborti S, Joshi PK, Zhang Q, Wang Y, Bhatt S, Bhatt A, Jha S, Keesstra S, Roy PS. Examining the effects of forest fire on terrestrial carbon emission and ecosystem production in India using remote sensing approaches. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 725:138331. [PMID: 32302833 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2019] [Revised: 03/29/2020] [Accepted: 03/29/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Remote sensing techniques are effectively used for measuring the overall loss of terrestrial ecosystem productivity and biodiversity due to forest fires. The current research focuses on assessing the impacts of forest fires on terrestrial ecosystem productivity in India during 2003-2017. Spatiotemporal changes of satellite remote sensing derived burn indices were estimated for both fire and normal years to analyze the association between forest fires and ecosystem productivity. Two Light Use Efficiency (LUE) models were used to quantify the terrestrial Net Primary Productivity (NPP) of the forest ecosystem using the open-source and freely available remotely sensed data. A novel approach (delta NPP/delta burn indices) is developed to quantify the effects of forest fires on terrestrial carbon emission and ecosystem production. During 2003-2017, the forest fire intensity was found to be very high (>2000) across the eastern Himalayan hilly region, which is mostly covered by dense forest and thereby highly susceptible to wildfires. Scattered patches of intense forest fires were also detected in the lower Himalayan and central Indian states. The spatial correlation between the burn indices and NPP were mainly negative (-0.01 to -0.89) for the fire-prone states as compared to the other neighbouring regions. Additionally, the linear approximation between the burn indices and NPP showed a positive relation (0.01 to 0.63), suggesting a moderate to high impact of the forest fires on the ecosystem production and terrestrial carbon emission. The present approach has the potential to quantify the loss of ecosystem productivity due to forest fires.
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Affiliation(s)
- Srikanta Sannigrahi
- School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin, Richview, Clonskeagh, Dublin, D14 E099, Ireland.
| | - Francesco Pilla
- School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin, Richview, Clonskeagh, Dublin, D14 E099, Ireland
| | - Bidroha Basu
- School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin, Richview, Clonskeagh, Dublin, D14 E099, Ireland
| | - Arunima Sarkar Basu
- School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin, Richview, Clonskeagh, Dublin, D14 E099, Ireland
| | - Konika Sarkar
- Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, West Bengal 700007, India
| | - Suman Chakraborti
- Center for the Study of Regional Development (CSRD), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India
| | - Pawan Kumar Joshi
- School of Environmental Sciences (SES), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India
| | - Qi Zhang
- The Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Ying Wang
- School of Public Administration, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Sandeep Bhatt
- Department of Geology & Geophysics, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, 721302, India
| | - Anand Bhatt
- H.N.B.Garhwal University, Srinagar - 246174, Dist. Garhwal, Uttarakhand 246174, India
| | - Shouvik Jha
- Indian Centre for Climate and Societal Impacts Research (ICCSIR), Kachchh, Gujarat 370465, India
| | - Saskia Keesstra
- Soil, Water and Land-use Team, Wageningen University and Research, Droevendaalsesteeg3, 6708PB Wageningen, Netherlands; Civil, Surveying and Environmental Engineering, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan 2308, Australia
| | - P S Roy
- Innovation Systems for the Drylands (ISD), ICRISAT, Pathancheru, Hyderabad 502 324, India
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Smith P, Soussana J, Angers D, Schipper L, Chenu C, Rasse DP, Batjes NH, van Egmond F, McNeill S, Kuhnert M, Arias‐Navarro C, Olesen JE, Chirinda N, Fornara D, Wollenberg E, Álvaro‐Fuentes J, Sanz‐Cobena A, Klumpp K. How to measure, report and verify soil carbon change to realize the potential of soil carbon sequestration for atmospheric greenhouse gas removal. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2020; 26:219-241. [PMID: 31469216 PMCID: PMC6973036 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2019] [Accepted: 08/22/2019] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
There is growing international interest in better managing soils to increase soil organic carbon (SOC) content to contribute to climate change mitigation, to enhance resilience to climate change and to underpin food security, through initiatives such as international '4p1000' initiative and the FAO's Global assessment of SOC sequestration potential (GSOCseq) programme. Since SOC content of soils cannot be easily measured, a key barrier to implementing programmes to increase SOC at large scale, is the need for credible and reliable measurement/monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) platforms, both for national reporting and for emissions trading. Without such platforms, investments could be considered risky. In this paper, we review methods and challenges of measuring SOC change directly in soils, before examining some recent novel developments that show promise for quantifying SOC. We describe how repeat soil surveys are used to estimate changes in SOC over time, and how long-term experiments and space-for-time substitution sites can serve as sources of knowledge and can be used to test models, and as potential benchmark sites in global frameworks to estimate SOC change. We briefly consider models that can be used to simulate and project change in SOC and examine the MRV platforms for SOC change already in use in various countries/regions. In the final section, we bring together the various components described in this review, to describe a new vision for a global framework for MRV of SOC change, to support national and international initiatives seeking to effect change in the way we manage our soils.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pete Smith
- Institute of Biological & Environmental SciencesUniversity of AberdeenAberdeenUK
| | | | | | - Louis Schipper
- Environmental Research InstituteUniversity of WaikatoHamiltonNew Zealand
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Matthias Kuhnert
- Institute of Biological & Environmental SciencesUniversity of AberdeenAberdeenUK
| | | | | | | | | | - Eva Wollenberg
- CGIAR CCAFS ProgrammeUniversity of Vermont (UVM)BurlingtonVTUSA
| | | | - Alberto Sanz‐Cobena
- Research Center for the Management of Environmental and Agricultural Risks (CEIGRAM)Universidad Politécnica de MadridMadridSpain
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The Continental Impact of European Forest Conservation Policy and Management on Productivity Stability. REMOTE SENSING 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/rs11010087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The ecological impact of continental scale land-use policies that influence forest management is often difficult to quantify. European forest conservation began in 1909 with a marked increase in designated areas with the inception of Natura 2000 in the early 1990s. It has been shown that increases in European forest mortality may be linked to climate variability. Measuring productivity response to climate variability may be a valid proxy indicating a forest’s ability to bear this disturbance. Net Primary Production (NPP) response to climate variability has also been linked to functional diversity within forests. Using a European specific annual MODIS NPP estimates, we assess the NPP response to climate variability differences between actively managed forests, which experience human interventions and conserved, Protected Area (PA) forests with minimal to no human impact. We found, on the continental scale, little to no differences in NPP response between managed and conserved forests. However, on the regional scale, differences emerge that are driven by the historic forest management practices and the potential speciation of the area. Northern PA forests show the same NPP response to climate variability as their actively managed counter parts. PA forests tend to have less NPP response to climate variability in the South and in older conserved forests. As the time a forest has been designated, as a PA, extends past its typically actively managed rotation length, greater differences begin to emerge between the two management types.
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