Estimating changes in soil organic carbon consistently from field to continental scales (Invited)

Changes in soil organic carbon are currently measured at the field scale and estimated independently at the national scale. If national programs are initiated that provide incentives for carbon sequestration (e.g., cap and trade program), it would be beneficial to develop a system that consistently estimates changes in soil carbon at both the field or project scales and at the national or continental scales. Such a system would ensure that changes occurring at the project level are accounted for in national inventories, while providing similar standards for both project- and national-scale estimations. Developing such a system requires field-level modeling at the national scale, and includes the use of high resolution data on soils, land cover, and land use. We will present current methods of integrating land use data, satellite remote sensing data, and soil attribute data to estimate changes in soil carbon consistently from field to national scales. Methods for estimating changes in soil carbon dynamics using models and algorithms will be discussed and current results from field, regional, and national simulations will be presented.