Towards a remote sensing-based assessment of carbon emissions from peatlands

Abstract

Abstract Among greenhouse gases-generating sources, biosphere sources from natural carbon (C) reservoirs play a significant role. A vital component of the biosphere is peatlands—the largest natural terrestrial carbon storage on the earth. Peatlands function as both C sink and C source, showing their pivot role in mitigating GHGs. Releasing C results from peat oxidation—the decomposition of organic matter in the peat. This decomposition reduces the volume of peat and, hence, causes subsidence. This study introduces an exclusive remote-sensing-based framework for estimating carbon emissions from peatlands using subsidence rates. This framework integrates peat properties—bulk density and soil organic carbon—with the oxidated peat subsidence, which refers to the proportion of subsidence attributed to the oxidation process rather than shrinkage. Achieving a fully remote-sensing-based approach promises time-effective, cost-effective, and consistent C emission monitoring even in unreachable places in peatlands, addressing the critical need for global climate change mitigation strategies. However, this achievement requires collaborative efforts among researchers to implement it in other sites to improve dataset accuracy for each parameter. By improving this framework, the scientific community can pave the way for robust, large-scale assessments of peatland C emission.