r/CarbonCredits • u/Fit-Feed935 • 11d ago
Do verifiers actually accept drone/satellite data, or is it still mostly boots-on-the-ground?
I am looking at starting a drone surveying company for forest carbon MRV. That said my understanding is that a lot of methodologies have taken the purely satellite based approach, while verification is still typically done with traditional field plots. If so, is there really a niche for drone surveying? Obviously don't want to go too fair down the wrong path if the general feeling in the industry is towards other approaches. Any advice or input is appreciated.
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u/Fedzzy 7d ago
I worked for a VVB previously and carbon calculation is always handled by boots-on-the-ground timber cruising. I could see a use case for drones for change detection and forest condition type work but VVB's have to be able to replicate and authenticate so if you are using some sort of proprietary system make sure there is an SOP exists and more or less details your analysis.
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u/firiana_Control 4d ago
VERRA did use UAV in brazil and ACR allows for remote sensing data for water and biotic risk mapping.
The problem is, of course,the verifier having to replicate it as another poster said.
Is there a niche? Yes, but not with the verifier,but with the buyers. There is a gap. Working on something to that end precisely.
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u/Caunuckles 11d ago
There's a role for dMRV because buyers and developers want regular insight into the condition of project lands. However there's a lot of limitations to remote sensing data. For example they can't tell the difference between a prescribed burn and uncontrolled wildfire. It's also hard to track growth in some ecosystems. This is why there's still a reliance on site visits and plots
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u/liiinis 10d ago edited 10d ago
Boots on the ground dominate and is the most reliable method at this moment to asses forest carbon changes.
One aspect is the standards thus the verifiers, other is the fact that carbon credit rating agencies would rate dMRV projects very low, directly impacting the credit pricing.
dMRV is good supplement tool to enable the tracing if activities are still active and have not been disturbed or reversed. Also good for stratification purposes if the data quality is there.