Mapping Carbon Dynamics: Remote Sensing Insights into Calabria's Landscapes (Southern Italy)

Forest ecosystems play a crucial role in global carbon cycling by sequestering carbon from the atmosphere and storing it primarily in living biomass and soil. Monitoring forest carbon stocks is essential for understanding the impacts of changes in land use on carbon sequestration. Historically, forest monitoring has relied on costly and labour intensive on-site surveys, but advances in remote sensing, particularly high-resolution satellite imagery and cloud computing, have revolutionised the monitoring framework. This study investigates the potential of remote sensing techniques and Google Earth Engine to map and monitor changes in the forests of Calabria (Italy) over the past two decades. Using satellite-sourced optical data and the InVEST model, carbon concentrations and changes in land use land cover are analysed, providing insights into the carbon dynamics of the region. The results reveal dynamic changes in carbon concentrations in different land use land cover classes, highlighting the economic implications of carbon sequestration or loss. This research aims to underscore the importance of satellite data in increasing knowledge for planning and handling comprehensive strategies for the management of carbon stocks in forest ecosystems.