Remote estimation of net CO2 emission from boreal ecosystems
Abstract
Hydroelectricity is the main source of power in the province of Quebec, Canada. While hydroelectricity is considered to be a relatively green source of energy, reservoir creation is a land use change that involves flooding terrestrial ecosystems and thus a loss of greenhouse gas (GHG) uptake as well as direct GHG emission from decomposing vegetation. Both the lost sink for GHGs and direct emission from the reservoir surface must be included in estimating the net GHG emission attributable to the reservoir’s construction. These emissions can be determined using techniques such as eddy covariance, however, such methods are often costly and time consuming, and require frequent access to remote locations. Remote sensing is able to provide spatially continuous data over large areas, minimizing the need for ground based measurements. We tested the ability of the photochemical reflectance index (PRI) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) to predict fluxes of carbon dioxide in areas representative of boreal forests and peatlands flooded by the Eastmain 1 hydroelectric reservoir in the James Bay region of Quebec, Canada. We collected spectral measurements from hand-held and helicopter-based platforms, as well as continuously monitored the indices PRI and NDVI from tower-mounted sensors at a forest and peatland site. We then compared the vegetation indices to net fluxes of carbon dioxide measured by eddy covariance at each site. PRI was related to fluxes at both the forest and peatland sites, suggesting it is possible to remotely estimate carbon dioxide uptake by vegetation in boreal forests and peatlands and thus greenhouse gas emissions resulting from land use changes in boreal regions, such as reservoir inundation.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010AGUFM.B41I0429R
- Keywords:
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- 0480 BIOGEOSCIENCES / Remote sensing