Simplifying drone-based aboveground carbon density measurements to support community forestry

Area of Science:

• Forestry
• Remote Sensing
• Ecology

Background:

• Community-based forest restoration is vital for carbon sequestration and sustainable development.
• Accurate aboveground carbon measurement is crucial for international funding but current methods are costly and complex.
• Consumer-grade drones and open-source software offer a potential solution for accessible carbon monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the suitability of a simplified drone-based method for measuring aboveground carbon density in degraded tropical forests.
• To compare drone-derived carbon density estimates with established field-based methods.
• To evaluate the impact of using different allometric equations on measurement accuracy.

Main Methods:

• Utilized structure-from-motion photogrammetry with consumer-grade drone imagery to create canopy height models.
• Applied pre-published plot-aggregate allometric equations to estimate aboveground carbon density.
• Compared drone-based measurements with traditional field-based assessments at a 2 ha restoration site in Sabah, Malaysia.

Main Results:

• The simplified drone method produced aboveground carbon density estimates of a similar magnitude to field-based methods.
• Greater uncertainty in carbon density measurements was observed due to errors in drone-based canopy height.
• The selection of regionally calibrated allometric equations significantly impacted measurement accuracy.

Conclusions:

• Drone-based methods provide a cost-effective and simpler alternative for carbon measurement at community scales (1-100 ha).
• The method's accuracy is influenced by canopy height measurement errors and the choice of allometric equations.
• Further refinements are needed to enhance accessibility and accuracy for widespread community adoption.