A Review of the Use of Remote Sensing for Monitoring and Quantifying Carbon Sequestration in Marginal Lands

Abstract

In recent years, Remote Sensing (RS) and its derived products have been used as a key tool for the detection, monitoring,management and future use of Marginal Lands (ML). Currently, there is no single, universally accepted definition of theterm and there is a wide variety of synonyms. In this paper, we conduct a compilation of synonyms and meanings thatencompass the term, as well as propose a definition. To reach this objective, an overview of the state of the art of ML isdone, visualising trends by science maps, based on bibliographic data of established research journals, found in GoogleScholar, Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus search engines. The bibliographic review carried out shows that the study ofML has traditionally been carried out with an ad hoc basis focused on the objective to be achieved, this aspect and otherknowledge gaps are discussed to analyse the global study of ML. Due to the broad spectrum of uses in which ML havebeen studied, the work has been focused on RS for monitoring and characterizing ML, focusing on two different aspects:(i) satellite monitoring of marginal lands; and (ii) determining carbon sequestration potential of marginal lands using remotesensing.

Marginal lands: a review of papers from the Scopus database published in English for the period of 1979–2022

“…The concept of marginal land is not new; Ricardo used it as a term in the 19th century in his Theory of Rent (Ricardo, 2005). The overall vision of the term "marginal land" was initially related to land uses that are not economically profitable (Carbonell-Rivera et al, 2021). Due to varying objectives, marginal land is defined differently by different regions, countries, and organizations (Tang et al, 2010;Wells et al, 2018).…”