Remote Sensing of CO2 Absorption by Saline-Alkali Soils: Potentials and Constraints: Preliminary Theory and Methodology

CO2 absorption by saline-alkali soils was recently demonstrated in the measurements of soil
respiration fluxes in arid and semiarid ecosystems and hypothetically contributed to the long-thought
“missing carbon sink.”This paper is aimed to develop the preliminary theory and methodology for the
quantitative analysis of CO2 absorption by saline-alkali soils on regional and global scales. Both the
technological progress of multispectral remote sensing over the past decades and the conjectures of
mechanisms and controls of CO2 absorption by saline-alkali soils are advantageous for remote
sensing of such absorption. At the end of this paper, the scheme for remote sensing is presented and
some unresolved issues related to the scheme are also proposed for further investigations.