A review of carbon monitoring in wet carbon systems using remote sensing
| Authors: | Anthony Campbell, Temilola Fatoyinbo, Sean Charles, Laura Bourgeau-Chavez, Joaquim Goes, Helga Gomes, Meghan Halabisky, James Holmquist, Steven Lohrenz, Catherine Mitchell, L Monika Moskal, Benjamin Poulter, Han Qiu, Celio Resende De Sousa, Michael Sayers, Marc Simard, Anthony Stewart, Debjani Singh, Carl C. Trettin, Jinghui Wu, Xuesong Zhang, David Lagomasino |
| Year: | 2022 |
| Type: | Scientific Journal |
| Station: | Southern Research Station |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac4d4d |
| Source: | Environmental Research Letters |
Abstract
Carbon monitoring is critical for the reporting and verification of carbon stocks and change.Remote sensing is a tool increasingly used to estimate the spatial heterogeneity, extent and changeof carbon stocks within and across various systems. We designate the use of the term wet carbonsystem to the interconnected wetlands, ocean, river and streams, lakes and ponds, and permafrost,which are carbon-dense and vital conduits for carbon throughout the terrestrial and aquaticsections of the carbon cycle. We reviewed wet carbon monitoring studies that utilize earthobservation to improve our knowledge of data gaps, methods, and future research recommendations. To achieve this, we conducted a systematic review collecting 1622 referencesand screening them with a combination of text matching and a panel of three experts. The searchfound 496 references, with an additional 78 references added by experts. Our study foundconsiderable variability of the utilization of remote sensing and global wet carbon monitoringprogress across the nine systems analyzed. The review highlighted that remote sensing is routinelyused to globally map carbon in mangroves and oceans, whereas seagrass, terrestrial wetlands, tidalmarshes, rivers, and permafrost would benefit from more accurate and comprehensive global mapsof extent. We identified three critical gaps and twelve recommendations to continue progressingwet carbon systems and increase cross system scientific inquiry.