CO2 Flux Tower and Remote Sensing: Tools for Monitoring Carbon Exchange over Ecosystem Scale in Northwest Himalaya

Abstract

Carbon accounts for nearly half of the total dry mass of all living things (Schlesinger 1991). Forests are the major reservoir of terrestrial carbon on the Earth and play vital role in balancing the steadily rising concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere owing to fossil fuel and biomass burning (IPCC 2005). A forest is called the sink or source of carbon dioxide depending on net removal or release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. India supports a vast mosaic of forest ecosystems and contributes significantly to its carbon dynamics (Chhabra and Dadhwal 2004). Accurate quantification of carbon fluxes of forest ecosystems at local, regional, and global scales is necessary for understanding the feedback mechanism between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere. Deep insight into the role of forests in the regional carbon cycle is critical for taking policy-oriented decisions on forest-based initiatives to mitigate global warming.