Application of Low-Cost Elevation Models to Detect Changes in the Carbon Inventory of Forest Sequestration Projects
Project # 42437

Primary Performing Organization
Winrock International

Combustion of fossil fuels is generally considered to be the major contributor of carbon dioxide (CO2) vented into the atmosphere from human activity, thereby contributing to global warming.  But fossil fuel combustion is not the only contributor — deforestation also contributes to global warming since it decreases the natural uptake of CO2 through terrestrial sequestration.  Conversely, proper forest management, including reforestation, has the potential to considerably reduce the rate of increase in the CO2 content of the atmosphere.  To gain a complete picture of CO2 emissions and their impact on the atmosphere, the rate of CO2 increase must be accurately measured.  Accordingly, this project was initiated to develop, test, and apply new, low-cost digital elevation models (DEMs) to detect changes in the carbon inventory in mixed hardwood forests.

Credits for terrestrial carbon sequestration projects can only be assigned if the increase in carbon inventory due to sequestration can be determined.  Benefits of this project include the ability to provide an economical tool for measuring carbon content of trees and other vegetation. The DEMs also enable tracking of vegetation change, detection of illegal logging, documentation of forest certification, and forest inventory.  These data will be very beneficial for planning, assessing, and verifying terrestrial carbon sequestration projects.

DEM technology involves flying an aircraft over a forest and photographing the area using special photographic techniques.  The photographic information then can be analyzed to obtain data on tree height and crown area.  This data can then be used with allometric equations to estimate the biomass and, consequently, the carbon inventory of the forest.  See photographs.

The technical objectives of the project are to:

• Develop and test low-cost, optically derived DEMs of forest canopy using multiple ranging lasers.
• Develop and test software to detect changes in forest canopy by comparing DEMs produced at two different times on the same site, to determine the effect of managed change.
• Assess the utility of the automated process in detecting carbon inventory changes.
• Estimate the cost of using this approach compared to existing approaches, and determine the effect on the design and implementation of a monitoring and measurement plan.

Contact:
Project Manager:  Andrea McNemar, andrea.mcnemar@netl.doe.gov

Related Papers and Publications:

• Low Cost Elevation Models Fact Sheet (pdf)