Estimating Carbon Sequestration in Urban Water Bodies using Remote Sensing and Modeling Techniques
May 2025
Urban lakes play an important role in local climate regulation and carbon cycling, especially in rapidly growing cities like Ahmedabad. These water bodies not only provide ecological and recreational value but also act as potential carbon sinks. However, their contribution to carbon sequestration is often understudied due to limited monitoring and data. This study aims to estimate carbon dioxide CO2 flux in five urban lakes across different zones of Ahmedabad using a combination of satellite data and water quality measurements. Sentinel-2 satellite imagery was used along with field-collected water quality parameters such as pH, temperature, dissolved inorganic carbon, dissolved organic carbon, salinity, and turbidity. Multilinear regression models were developed using Python and R to estimate CO2 flux and carbon storage in each lake. The findings showed that most lakes acted as carbon sinks in recent years, with 2025 showing the highest CO2 absorption. Makarba and Shilaj lakes showed stable behaviour, while Chharodi had more fluctuations. Lake surface area trends also showed gradual increases with minor drops in some years. Future studies should focus on collecting more seasonal and spatial data to improve model accuracy. This research highlights the importance of integrating remote sensing and field data in estimating carbon sequestration.
