• Our Roots
  • The ImageTree Crew
  • Advisory Board
  • Careers
  • Environmental Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Our History
• Products&Services
  • Case Study
  • ForestSense FAQs
  • ForestSense Process
  • ForestSense CO₂Sequestration Assessment
• Who We Serve
  • TIMO/REIT
  • Government and Conservation
  • Carbon Sequestration
• Resources
  • Downloads
  • 2008 Industry Events
  • Idea Leadership Series
• Our Partners
  • Sponsored Research
• Newsroom
  • News Releases
  • Articles and Industry News
  • Media Kit

ForestSense™ Carbon Sequestration Assessment

Carbon Sequestration Qualification

ImageTree’s patented ForestSense inventory evaluation process, which “captures and maps” every visible tree crown in a specified forest, provides basal area, volume, weight, and trees per acre by species group & DBH class for every forested stand on a given property. Given the volumes that result from ForestSense calculations, the amount of CO₂ sequestered at both the stand and the forest level through the use of biomass conversion equations can then be calculated. These equations generate an output in metric tons of CO₂, which is the basis upon which carbon credits can be issued.

Carbon Sequestration Monitoring

One of the requirements of allowing forests to be considered for carbon credits is the ability to monitor the volume of trees that sequester CO₂ year after year. On any property, trees continue to grow, die, or sometimes are harvested. The result is that changes in sequestered carbon must be monitored and verified to ensure that the net amount of CO₂ sequestered when the project began still remains. There is evidence, for example, that sustainably managed forests can sequester more carbon over time than unmanaged forests. Thus, trees may be thinned or harvested to promote healthier, faster-growing forest environments that will eventually sequester more CO₂. These periodic changes could result in varying degrees of CO₂ being sequestered by the forest and these changes must be monitored.

Using the ForestSense platform, ImageTree implements its Change Management System to efficiently monitor the removal, mortality, and growth of trees on a given property.  Removed or deceased trees are identified by examining reduced numbers of tree crowns that were mapped and measured during the baseline assessment.  These represent trees no longer present and, therefore, no longer sequestering carbon. In addition, field sample updates and recalibration of data allow for the evaluation of tree growth, which, in turn, quantifies the additional metric tons of CO₂ that are being sequestered. 

In summary, a net growth/loss in metric tons of CO₂ is uniquely monitored via the ImageTree annual Change Management System.