New NASA Map Reveals Tropical Forest Carbon Storage

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Alan Buis 818-354-0474
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
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Steve Cole 202-358-0918
NASA Headquarters, Washington
Stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov

News release: 2011-165 May 31, 2011

New NASA Map Reveals Tropical Forest Carbon Storage

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-165&cid=release_2011-165

PASADENA, Calif. – A NASA-led research team has used a variety of NASA satellite data to create
the most precise map ever produced depicting the amount and location of carbon stored in Earth's
tropical forests. The data are expected to provide a baseline for ongoing carbon monitoring and
research and serve as a useful resource for managing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

The new map, created from ground- and space-based data, shows, for the first time, the distribution
of carbon stored in forests across more than 75 tropical countries. Most of that carbon is stored in the
extensive forests of Latin America.

"This is a benchmark map that can be used as a basis for comparison in the future when the forest
cover and its carbon stock change," said Sassan Saatchi of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, Calif., who led the research. "The map shows not only the amount of carbon stored in the
forest, but also the accuracy of the estimate." The study was published May 30 in the Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences.

Deforestation and forest degradation contribute 15 to 20 percent of global carbon emissions, and most
of that contribution comes from tropical regions. Tropical forests store large amounts of carbon in the
wood and roots of their trees. When the trees are cut and decompose or are burned, the carbon is
released to the atmosphere.

Previous studies had estimated the carbon stored in forests on local and large scales within a single
continent, but there existed no systematic way of looking at all tropical forests. To measure the size
of the trees, scientists typically use a ground-based technique, which gives a good estimate of how
much carbon they contain. But this technique is limited because the structure of the forest is
extremely variable, and the number of ground sites is very limited.

To arrive at a carbon map that spans three continents, the team used data from the Geoscience Laser
Altimeter System lidar on NASA's ICESat satellite. The researchers looked at information on the
height of treetops from more than 3 million measurements. With the help of corresponding ground
data, they calculated the amount of above-ground biomass and thus, the amount of carbon it
contained.

The team then extrapolated these data over the varying landscape to produce a seamless map, using
NASA imagery from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on
NASA's Terra spacecraft, the QuikScat scatterometer satellite and the Shuttle Radar Topography
Mission.

The map reveals that in the early 2000s, forests in the 75 tropical countries studied contained 247
billion tons of carbon. For perspective, about 10 billion tons of carbon is released annually to the
atmosphere from combined fossil fuel burning and land use changes.

The researchers found that forests in Latin America hold 49 percent of the carbon in the world's
tropical forests. For example, Brazil's carbon stock alone, at 61 billion tons, almost equals all of the
carbon stock in sub-Saharan Africa, at 62 billion tons.

"These patterns of carbon storage, which we really didn't know before, depend on climate, soil,
topography and the history of human or natural disturbance of the forests," Saatchi said. "Areas often
impacted by disturbance, human or natural, have lower carbon storage."

The carbon numbers, along with information about the uncertainty of the measurements, are
important for countries planning to participate in the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and
Degradation (REDD+) program. REDD+ is an international effort to create a financial value for the
carbon stored in forests. It offers incentives for countries to preserve their forestland in the interest of
reducing carbon emissions and investing in low-carbon paths of development.

The map also provides a better indication of the health and longevity of forests and how they
contribute to the global carbon cycle and overall functioning of the Earth system. The next step in
Saatchi's research is to compare the carbon map with satellite observations of deforestation to identify
source locations of carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere.

For more information on NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov .

JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

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