Development of Soil Organic Carbon Storage Estimation Model Using Soil Characteristics

Carbon dioxide is one of the major driving forces causing climate changes, and many countries have been trying to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from various sources. Soil stores more carbon dioxide(two to three times) amounts than atmosphere indicating that soil organic carbon emission management are a pivotal issue. In this study, we developed a Soil Organic Carbon(SOC) storage estimation model to predict SOC storage amounts in soils. Also, SOC storage values were assessed based on the carbon emission price provided from Republic Of Korea(ROK). Here, the SOC model calculated the soil hydraulic properties based on the soil physical and chemical information. Base on the calculated the soil hydraulic properties and the soil physical chemical information, SOC storage amounts were estimated. In validation, the estimated SOC storage amounts were 486,696 tons($3.526kg/m^2$) in Jindo-gun and shown similarly compared to the previous literature review. These results supported the robustness of our SOC model in estimating SOC storage amounts. The total SOC storage amount in ROK was 305 Mt, and the SOC amount at Gyeongsangbuk-do were relatively higher than other regions. But the SOC storage amount(per unit) was highest in Jeju island indicating that volcanic ashes might influence on the relatively higher SOC amount. Based on these results, the SOC storage value was shown as 8.4 trillion won in ROK. Even though our SOC model was not fully validated due to lacks of measured SOC data, our approach can be useful for policy-makers in reducing soil organic carbon emission from soils against climate changes.

토양 특성을 이용한 토양유기탄소저장량 산정 모형 개발