Satellite data for carbon sequestration accounting: enhancing spatial and temporal resolution in harmony with the European ecosystem typology

The Horizon Europe SELINA project (project-selina.eu) supports evidence-based decision-making for the sustainable use of natural capital by advancing the integration of information on biodiversity, ecosystem condition, and ecosystem services across Europe, contributing to the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the European Green Deal, and national ecosystem reporting.
As part of SELINA’s demonstration phase, advanced methods were tested to improve the spatial and temporal resolution of the three key ecosystem accounting components—extent, condition, and services — focusing on the capacity of forests, heathlands and peatlands to capture and store carbon on two test sites: São Miguel Island (Azores, Portugal) and Peloponnese, Greece.
Ecosystem extent mapping employed a dual approach: (i) national-centric, enhancing existing datasets with Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (CLMS) data; and (ii) vegetation-centric, classifying EUNIS habitats from remote-sensing-derived features. Forest condition was assessed using the PEOPLE-EA index, integrating multiple indicators relative to an optimal reference state. Carbon accounting also followed a dual approach: (i) a remote sensing–based method (GEDI, LiDAR, Sentinel-1) to map above-ground biomass, estimate carbon stock/fluxes, and detect deforestation; (ii) a GPP-based approach applying a Light Use Efficiency (LUE) model with Sentinel-2 and climate data, subsequently converted to biome-specific NPP.
These methods produced wall-to-wall 10 m resolution maps harmonized with the European ecosystem typology, enabling scalable, cost-effective, and policy-relevant ecosystem monitoring, particularly in typically underrepresented small-medium islands from the European outermost regions.