New Publication: Turning Satellite Data into Actionable Carbon Accounts for Better Climate Reporting
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Published on: January 23, 2026
Turning Satellites into Carbon Accounts
As climate commitments grow more ambitious, countries are being asked to report not only how much carbon they emit, but how their landscapes store, release, and absorb carbon over time. Forests and soils play a central role in this balance, yet traditional carbon accounting systems rely heavily on national inventories that are expensive to produce, slow to update, and difficult to compare across countries.
A newly published study led by Dr. Arnan Araza, together with his co-authors, explores how Earth Observation data can help address these gaps by supporting carbon accounting that is more timely, consistent, and aligned with international standards.
How the study turns satellite data into carbon accounts
In the study, Dr. Araza and the research team developed a workflow that translates satellite-derived information into carbon accounts consistent with the UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA). Rather than focusing on a single carbon pool or a single reporting year, the approach integrates multiple Earth Observation datasets to estimate both carbon stocks and carbon flows across land ecosystems. Above-ground biomass, below-ground biomass, deadwood, litter, and soil organic carbon are all included, allowing the analysis to reflect the full carbon cycle. The method was applied consistently across six countries—Brazil, Mozambique, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Sweden, and the United States—covering the period from 2010 to 2021.
What the results reveal across countries
The results show that national carbon profiles vary widely depending on ecosystem type and geography. In forest-rich tropical countries such as Brazil, most carbon is stored in above-ground biomass, while in countries like the Philippines, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Mozambique, soil organic carbon accounts for the largest share. The study also demonstrates that carbon trends depend strongly on the length of the accounting period. Annual estimates reveal short-term variability driven by land use change, climate stress, and natural disturbances, while multi-year averages smooth these signals and present more stable trends. When compared with official UNFCCC submissions, the Earth Observation–based estimates developed by Dr. Araza and his colleagues generally align in terms of long-term sink or source behavior, but show greater year-to-year variability, highlighting their value as a complementary source of evidence.
Why this matters for policy and planning
These findings have important implications for decision-makers. Satellite-based carbon accounts offer spatially explicit and repeatable insights that can support climate reporting, land management, and ecosystem planning. For the Philippines, the results emphasize the importance of soil carbon as a major national carbon pool and show how sensitive carbon balances can be to land use and climate variability. By capturing dynamics that may be overlooked in infrequently updated inventories, the approach presented by Dr. Araza helps bridge the gap between scientific monitoring and real-world decision-making.
From research to action
The study led by Dr. Arnan Araza demonstrates how Earth Observation can strengthen existing carbon accounting systems by adding transparency, consistency, and temporal detail. Rather than replacing national inventories, satellite-based accounts provide an additional layer of evidence that can improve confidence in reported numbers. As Earth Observation datasets continue to improve, integrating them into standardized accounting frameworks offers countries a practical path toward more timely and credible climate reporting. Turning satellite data into actionable carbon accounts is not just a methodological advance—it is a step toward better-informed climate action.
Read the full paper
Araza, A., Hein, L., Feng, Y., Melo, J., & Herold, M. (2026). Exploring the application of Earth Observation datasets for SEEA carbon accounting and its comparison with national GHG reporting to the UNFCCC. Science of The Total Environment, 1015, 181189.
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