The Challenge

Carbon sequestration is a spatial problem. Forest cover isn't uniform — carbon stock concentrations vary dramatically based on vegetation type, stand age, and disturbance history. Knowing the aggregate carbon stored in a county is useful. Knowing where it's concentrated, and where gaps exist, is what drives conservation and land management decisions.

This analysis mapped above-ground vegetation carbon stock in tonnes per hectare across Lane and Douglass Counties in southern Oregon — a region with significant old-growth forest patches and active timber extraction. The red-to-green gradient makes the distribution legible at a glance: deep green for high-carbon forest zones, red for low-carbon or disturbed land.

The output supports carbon sequestration assessment and climate resilience planning at the county scale, giving land managers spatial context for conservation prioritization.

Carbon Stock Gradient — Above-Ground Vegetation (t/ha)
Low — disturbed / cleared land High — dense old-growth forest

"Carbon sequestration is a spatial problem. This map makes the distribution visible — not just how much carbon is stored, but where."

Process

  1. 1
    Research Identified carbon stock dataset for Oregon; assessed appropriate spatial resolution for county-scale analysis.
  2. 2
    Data Prep Processed raster; established classification for continuous t/ha gradient output.
  3. 3
    GIS Work Applied symbolization; designed red-to-green gradient for carbon density visualization; verified spatial extent against county boundaries.
  4. 4
    Output Published raster map; supports land management and climate planning decisions.
Principle 01
Structure before software

Before choosing a classification scheme or color ramp, the analytical question has to be settled: are we showing discrete classes or a continuous distribution? Who is reading this map and what decisions will they make? The answer to those questions determines every downstream choice.