Dense green forest canopy

How to Measure Forest & Soil Carbon Stock (2026 Field & IPCC Guide)

By Sustainability Awakening • Dr. Ahmad Mahmood
1. The 5 IPCC Pools

Where Forests Lock Carbon

Trees, roots, litter, deadwood, and soil organic carbon.
2. Field Plot Setup

DBH at 1.3 Meters High

Measure trunk diameter (DBH), tree height (H), and wood density.
3. Chave 2014 Equation

Allometric Biomass Math

AGB = 0.0673 × (ρ·DBH²·H)^0.976 gives dry mass (kg).
4. Belowground Roots

Add 24% Root Biomass

Multiply aboveground biomass by a typical 0.24 root-to-shoot ratio.
5. Carbon Fraction

47% of Dry Wood Is Carbon

IPCC 2019 converts dry biomass to elemental carbon: C = B * 0.47.
6. Soil Carbon (SOC)

Bulk Density * Depth * %SOC

SOC (tC/ha) = BD × depth (cm) × %C × (1 − rock fraction).
7. Worked Soil Example

82.8 Tonnes Carbon / Hectare

BD 1.20 g/cm³, 30 cm depth, 2.3% C → 82.8 tC/ha.
8. Convert tC to tCO2e

Multiply Carbon by 3.6667

1 t of carbon = 44/12 (3.6667) t CO2e.
9. LiDAR & GEDI 2026

Spaceborne Canopy Verification

Pair field plots with GEDI LiDAR and VM0047 baselines.
Free 4-Tab Tool

Run the Carbon Stock Calculator

Compute tree DBH, plot tC/ha, soil SOC, and credit value online.