The Current Carbon Stock — Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) layer quantifies the carbon contained in the top 30 cm of soil derived from decomposed organic matter, expressed in tonnes of carbon per hectare (tC/ha). Soil organic carbon is the largest terrestrial carbon pool, containing approximately 1,500 Gt C globally in the top meter — more than twice the carbon in the atmosphere and three times the carbon in all living vegetation combined.
SOC accumulates through the decomposition of plant litter, root exudates, and microbial biomass. Its concentration is governed by the balance between organic matter inputs (from vegetation productivity) and losses (through microbial decomposition, erosion, and leaching). Climate, soil texture, land management, and vegetation type are the primary controls on SOC stocks.
SOC is critical for:
Random Forest downscaling pipeline for SOC extraction:
Output unit: tC/ha (tonnes of carbon per hectare, top 30 cm SOC)
| Code | Name | Provider | Type | Coverage | Resolution | Reference Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walker 2022 | Global Carbon Density (SOC) | Walker et al. / S3 | Raster (COG) | Global | ~300 m | 2016 |
COPERNICUS/S2_SR_HARMONIZED | Sentinel-2 L2A | ESA/Copernicus | Multispectral | Global | 10 m | 2017 — present |
GOOGLE/DYNAMICWORLD/V1 | Dynamic World | Google/WRI | Land cover | Global | 10 m | 2015 — present |
USGS/SRTMGL1_003 | SRTM DEM | NASA/USGS | Elevation | 60N-56S | 30 m | 2000 |
| Indicator | Unit | Range | Inverted |
|---|---|---|---|
carbon_stock_current_soc | tC/ha | [0, 5, 15, 40, 80, 150] | No |
Inverted = No: a higher value indicates greater soil carbon storage.
| Level | Thresholds | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| E (Very Low) | < 5 tC/ha | Desert soils, heavily degraded or sealed surfaces |
| D (Low) | 5-15 tC/ha | Arid croplands, eroded soils, sandy substrates |
| C (Moderate) | 15-40 tC/ha | Temperate grasslands, managed croplands, young forests |
| B (High) | 40-80 tC/ha | Forest soils, permanent grasslands, wetland margins |
| A (Very High) | > 80 tC/ha | Peatlands, organic soils, tropical forest floors, marshes |
Il layer Carbon Stock Attuale - SOC viene calcolato estraendo la componente di carbonio organico del suolo (Soil Organic Carbon, primi 30 cm) dalla mappa globale di densita di carbonio di Walker et al. (2022). Il SOC si accumula dalla decomposizione di lettiera vegetale, essudati radicali e biomassa microbica. Il raster baseline viene raffinato tramite Random Forest utilizzando NDVI (Sentinel-2), copertura del suolo (Dynamic World) ed elevazione (SRTM) come predittori. L'elevazione e particolarmente informativa per il SOC poiche influenza temperatura, umidita e tassi di decomposizione. Il SOC e il piu grande pool di carbonio terrestre a livello globale. Output in tC/ha a ~200 m di risoluzione.