Measuring and monitoring soil carbon sequestration

The monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration following management changes is complex due to the multitude of influencing factors related to ecosystem processes but also due to (socio-)economic or legal requirements. Several protocols for MRV applications have been published. In this chapter we will provide an overview about available systems and their advantages and limitations. There is a wide range of options to quantify SOC changes, but most of these options have limitations. Field measurements, including periodic on site measurements, short-term experiments and long-term monitoring are time consuming, cost and labour intensive. On the other hand modelling, and/or remote sensing approaches are associated with uncertainty, and/or data demand. Therefore, an effective MRV application should be a combination of different approaches. This chapter will discuss the different aspects, which will be picked up in the other chapters of this section that will present more details on quantification options.