High-Resolution Carbon Monitoring and Modeling

Development of a Prototype MRV System to Support Local Climate Action and Carbon Ecomarket Infrastructure in Sonoma County (2013-2017)

The overall goal of this project is the continuing development of a prototype Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) system based on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS), remote sensing and analysis capabilities to support land conservation related to climate goals as well as ecomarket infrastructure in Sonoma County, California. Building on our East Coast county-level work as part of Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) I and CMS II, we seek to address the following questions: - What accuracies are achievable using predominantly COTS-based approaches to high-resolution MRV for forest carbon? - What is the 'price-of-precision' for MRV systems and how does this vary as a function of sample design, ground data, remote sensing data acquisition and analysis costs? - How can stakeholder needs and requirements be integrated during the creation and implementation of MRV systems to provide effective decision support and compliance capabilities, and with better-informed policy decisions? Can a cloud-based architecture be used to facilitate the initiation and use of MRV systems to enable their implementation domestically and abroad?

Learn more about our research. (Click on Image)

  • Read about forest conservation, carbon sequestration and climate initiatives in Sonoma County
  • Learn about forest carbon monitoring using LiDAR* Remote Sensing and Ecosystem Modeling.
  • Get an introduction to the MRV platform and view case studies for seven protected forests.
  • * More on LiDAR: Light Detection And Ranging, sometimes Light Imaging, Detection, And Ranging (LiDAR)


Access the prototype MRV implementation for Sonoma County. (Click on Image)

  • Analyze high-resolution maps of aboveground biomass, carbon sequestration, landcover and forest structure.
  • Query district protected areas of user-defined areas to view forest carbon data summaries/statistics.
  • View and download detailed reports.