Beyond carbon: The role of forest albedo
The Forest Inventory and Analysis Program tells us where each forest type occurs (Douglas fir in this case) and how much carbon it stores. Work with a new Landsat albedo archive adds context about the degree to which albedo impacts offset carbon benefits.
Planting trees has widely been suggested as a way to mitigate climate change, as the biomass trees store represents a removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. America's forest industry often sells carbon credits that can be purchased to offset emissions in other sectors. However, trees also make the Earth’s surface darker and less reflective, meaning that more solar energy is absorbed into the climate system.
The Forest Inventory and Analysis Program led a study that combined its national ground inventory with a new satellite-based albedo record to compare the cooling caused by carbon storage in American forests with the warming caused by associated reductions in albedo (surface reflectiveness). For the first time, we now have exquisite detail in how both carbon storage and carbon-equivalent albedo impacts change as each of the country’s forest types age. This allows us to both estimate how much of the national carbon storage benefit is offset by albedo (about half) and support species selection decisions for the country’s forest managers who participate in carbon offset markets.