Geo-spatial Information Science: Remote sensing and machine learning in advancing carbon neutrality

Huanfeng Shen, Wuhan University ([email protected]), Jane Liu, University of Toronto ([email protected]), Wenping Yuan, Sun Yat-Sen University ([email protected]), Yongguang Zhang, Nanjing University ([email protected]), Holly Croft, University of Sheffield ([email protected]), Xiaobin Guan, Wuhan University ([email protected]). The dramatic increase in anthropogenic carbon emissions over the last five decades has already led to substantial damage to our environment, including increases in extreme weatherevents, loss of biodiversity, and a rise in sea level. Carbon neutrality, i.e., net-zero anthropogenic carbon emissions, is necessary to ensure the sustainable future of human beings, and hundreds of countries have pledged to achieve this goal by mid-century. Remote sensing techniques can acquire frequent observations of the Earth with various temporal and spatial resolutions, and provide substantial information for carbon emission monitoring and carbon cycle modeling. Remote sensing observations not only can be directly applied to retrieve the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (e.g., CO2, CO, CH4, CFCs, O3, et al.), but also can be employed to investigate the carbon budget of natural ecosystems.