A space–time observation system for soil organic carbon
S. B. Karunaratne A , T. F. A. Bishop A C , J. S. Lessels A , J. A. Baldock B and I. O. A. Odeh A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
B Sustainable Agriculture Flagship, CSIRO Land and Water, PMB 2, Glen Osmond, SA 5064, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: thomas.bishop@sydney.edu.au
Soil Research 53(6) 647-661 https://doi.org/10.1071/SR14178
Submitted: 14 July 2014 Accepted: 21 April 2015 Published: 11 September 2015
Abstract
In this paper, we present a framework for a space–time observation system for soil organic carbon (STOS-SOC). We propose that the RothC model be embedded within the STOS-SOC, which is driven by satellite-derived inputs and readily available geospatial inputs, such as digital soil maps. In particular, advances in remote sensing have enabled the development of satellite products that represent key inputs into soil carbon models, examples being evapotranspiration and biomass inputs to soil, which characterise space–time variations in management and land use. Starting from an initial calibrated base for prediction, as new observations are acquired, data assimilation techniques could be used to optimise calibration algorithms and predicted model outputs. We present initial results obtained from the implementation of the proposed STOS-SOC approach to the 1445-km2 Cox’s Creek catchment in northern New South Wales, Australia. Our results showed that use of satellite-derived biomass inputs with a MODIS satellite product (MOD17A3) improved the accuracy of simulations by 16% compared with carbon inputs derived through other methods normally adopted in the spatialisation of the RothC model. We further discuss the possibility of improving the capabilities of the STOS-SOC for future applications.
Additional keywords: digital soil mapping, MODIS products, space–time modelling, soil organic carbon, RothC model.
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