Friday, November 30. 2007

Using GIS to Predict Carbon Stores

A team from CIRAD (French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development, a French agricultural research centre working for international development) and partners have developed a method for mapping soil carbon reserves based on land use and environmental factors.

It was developed in India, at the centre of one of the 25 hot spots defined by biodiversity protection specialists. The new method comprises two stages. In the first, existing data are used to establish a model that subsequently serves to estimate carbon reserves depending on environmental parameters: location, geological substrate, physiographic information, plant cover and soil composition (gravel, clay, loam, sand, and obviously carbon).

In the case of India, these parameters were established for 361 soil profiles representing 1643 soil horizons selected based on numerous surveys and studies in the zone. The parameters were used to compile a database for the model. The model was then coupled with a geographic information system (GIS) containing maps of the same environmental parameters, so as to calculate carbon reserves at any point in the zone. The results obtained from these data for the different ecosystems encountered confirmed the mean values quoted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The method can also be used for other geographical zones, provided the relevant database is available for the zone in question.

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