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Posted 14 April 2008. Crop Management. Satellites Help Map Soil Carbon Flux Scientists Integrate Soil Science Data with Remote Sensing to Report Soil Carbon Flux Resulting from Land Management Changes Soil Science Society of America. Madison, Wisconsin (March 24, 2008)--Changes in soil carbon occur with changes in land management. Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and The University of Tennessee investigated quantifying soil carbon changes over large regions. They integrated remote sensing products with a national carbon accounting framework in a project funded by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Office of Earth Science. Results of the study were published in the March issue of the Soil Science Society of America Journal and were also presented at the NASA Joint Workshop on Biodiversity, Terrestrial Ecology, and Related Applied Sciences in August 2006. Tris West, project leader, stated, “The use of remote sensing products allows for the identification of soil and environmental attributes that are associated with each unique combination of planted crop and associated management inputs at the sub-county scale.” The 1992 National Land Cover Data, based on Landsat TM remote sensing data, was initially used in the carbon accounting framework. The use of these data allowed for estimated changes in soil carbon flux to be delineated at a 30-meter resolution across four land-use categories: row crops, small grains, pasture/hay, and fallow. The spatially-resolved results can also be used for comparison to other site specific measurements, such as measurements from eddy flux towers and atmospheric transport models, currently being developed under the multi-agency North American Carbon Program. The study resulted in the integration of remote sensing with soil science and agricultural economics, which was used to predict future land use. The study is a proof-of-concept that illustrates the ability to model carbon dynamics associated with actual crop fields for entire regions or continents. The spatially-explicit carbon accounting framework is currently limited by the temporal and spatial extent of current remote sensing products. Future work includes the integration of land-use data sets based on MODIS and the Indian Remote Sensing satellite. Through the integration of inventory data and remote sensing data, the scientists expect to make enhanced land management data sets available to the scientific community in the near future. View the abstract at soil.scijournals.org/cgi/content/full/72/2/285. The full-text article is available at no charge until April 23, 2008. Soil Science Society of America Journal, soil.scijournals.org, is a peer-reviewed international journal published six times a year by the Soil Science Society of America. Its contents focus on research relating to physics; chemistry; biology and biochemistry; fertility and plant nutrition; genesis, morphology, and classification; water management and conservation; forest, range, and wildland soils; nutrient management and soil and plant analysis; mineralogy; and wetland soils. The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) is a progressive, international scientific society that fosters the transfer of knowledge and practices to sustain global soils. Based in Madison, WI, and founded in 1936, SSSA is the professional home for 6,000+ members dedicated to advancing the field of soil science. It provides information about soils in relation to crop production, environmental quality, ecosystem sustainability, bioremediation, waste management, recycling, and wise land use. SSSA supports its members by providing quality research-based publications, educational programs, certifications, and science policy initiatives via a Washington, DC, office. For more information, visit www.soils.org. SSSA is the founding sponsor of an approximately 5,000-square foot exhibition, Dig It! The Secrets of Soil, opening July 19, 2008 at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. Contact: |