PNNL

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of the status of soil carbon sequestration (SCS) and discusses methods for measuring and monitoring carbon changes in agricultural and grassland soils. The topics reviewed include: soil sampling, analysis, models and remote sensing. Significant scientific and technological advances in the area of SCS have been achieved during the last 15 years. A number of feasibility or pilot projects are underway worldwide under a variety of environmental and socioeconomic situations. To further advance the field of SCS, more projects like these will have to be implemented in order to develop an internationally-accepted and adaptable framework that can guide landowner, energy, and government groups in the development of SCS projects. The formation of a collaborative network for this type of SCS projects can be very helpful to compare the methodologies in use across diverse environments and to exchange data for laboratory quality controls and verification of simulation models among other purposes. These projects will also be useful to advance new methodologies that integrate many of the novel concepts discussed in the previous sections as well as many yet to be discovered.