Comparative analysis of global land-cover products and carbon storage in the third pole region

초록

High-mountain ecosystems of the Third Pole play a critical role in regional carbon storage yet estimates remain uncertain due to inconsistencies among global land-cover products, particularly in snow and ice representation. This study compares land-cover characterization and carbon storage estimates across three high-mountain systems the Mongolian Altai, Himalaya, and Hindu Kush using four global land-cover datasets harmonized into a unified classification scheme for 2000-2020. Ecosystem carbon storage was estimated using the InVEST model by integrating above-ground biomass, below-ground biomass, and soil organic carbon, with uncertainty assessed through Monte Carlo simulations (+/- 20%). Results reveal strong regional and product-dependent variability, with the Himalaya exhibiting the highest carbon density (2862 t ha-1). Snow and ice trends differ markedly among datasets, demonstrating that land-cover uncertainty, especially in snow and ice mapping, is a dominant source of variability in high-mountain carbon storage estimates.

키워드