Towards agricultural soil carbon monitoring, reporting, and verification through the Field Observatory Network (FiON)

Olli Nevalainen,Iivari Kunttu,Tuula Aalto,Laura Mäkelä,Joni Kukkamäki,Jussi Heinonsalo,Åsa Stam,Pieta Jarva,Stephanie Gerin,Jari Liski,Toni Viskari,Henriikka Vekuri,Istem Fer,Tuomas Laurila,Liisa Kulmala,Julius Vira,Otto Kuusela,Layla Höckerstedt,Jari Hyväluoma,Antti Juntunen,Laura Heimsch,Annalea Lohila,Olli Niemitalo,Olli Koskela,Tiina Mattila ,Juha‐Pekka Tuovinen

doi:10.5194/gi-11-93-2022

Abstract

Abstract. Better monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) of the amount, additionality, and persistence of the sequestered soil carbon is needed to understand the best carbon farming practices for different soils and climate conditions, as well as their actual climate benefits or cost efficiency in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. This paper presents our Field Observatory Network (FiON) of researchers, farmers, companies, and other stakeholders developing carbon farming practices. FiON has established a unified methodology towards monitoring and forecasting agricultural carbon sequestration by combining offline and near-real-time field measurements, weather data, satellite imagery, modeling, and computing networks. FiON's first phase consists of two intensive research sites and 20 voluntary pilot farms testing carbon farming practices in Finland. To disseminate the data, FiON built a web-based dashboard called the Field Observatory (v1.0, https://www.fieldobservatory.org/, last access: 3 February 2022). The Field Observatory is designed as an online service for near-real-time model–data synthesis, forecasting, and decision support for the farmers who are able to monitor the effects of carbon farming practices. The most advanced features of the Field Observatory are visible on the Qvidja site, which acts as a prototype for the most recent implementations. Overall, FiON aims to create new knowledge on agricultural soil carbon sequestration and effects of carbon farming practices as well as provide an MRV tool for decision support.

Highlights

Farmers are managing one of the largest carbon stocks on the planet, with even relatively small additions being important for climate change mitigation
In this paper our objectives are to (1) describe data flows from various manual and automatic measurements in the Field Observatory, (2) demonstrate 15 d forecasts of carbon exchange and plant growth towards decision support for the farmers, and (3) discuss the benefits of the public monitoring network established by Field Observatory Network (FiON)
This paper introduced the Field Observatory Network (FiON) and its unified methodology, leading the way to monitoring and forecasting the functioning of agricultural ecosystems, geared towards verification of soil carbon sequestration

Summary

Introduction

Farmers are managing one of the largest carbon stocks on the planet, with even relatively small additions being important for climate change mitigation. Carbon farming practices include methods such as increasing carbon inputs (soil amendments, cover crops, residue management) and crop rotations. Such practices have the potential to partially refill the global soil carbon stock that has lost 116 Pg of carbon due to land cultivation (Sanderman et al, 2017), but they could improve soil structure and health as well as increase crop yields (Merante et al, 2017; Oldfield et al, 2018). Nevalainen et al.: Agricultural soil carbon monitoring, reporting, and verification through the FiON

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Conclusion