About BLUEQ Solution

Monitoring coastal habitats and quantifying blue carbon storage

BLUEQ Solution is a GIS-based platform that converts the spatial extent of seagrass meadows into carbon units and co-benefits. The platform is tailored to the needs of decision-makers and supports the roadmap towards a Blue Carbon Strategy in the ADRION region.

The platform links the spatial extent, health status, and blue carbon storage capacity of seagrass meadows in the Adriatic-Ionian region through a user-friendly, interactive GIS-based environment.

What the platform supports

A user-friendly GIS-based platform for habitat mapping, blue carbon assessment, and decision support.

BLUEQ Solution supports decision-makers and public authorities responsible for the surveillance and management of seagrass ecosystems, including MPAs, while remaining available to any interested party.

The Monitoring Tool visualizes the results of habitat mapping.
The Blue Carbon Tool provides maps of carbon stocks based on in situ measurements.
The Decision Support Tool performs background calculations to assess greenhouse gas benefit under different management scenarios or implementation of nature-based solutions.
The Database Catalogue provides access to available datasets used in the platform.

Why Posidonia oceanica matters

A priority Mediterranean habitat and a key blue carbon ecosystem.

Posidonia oceanica is a seagrass species endemic to the Mediterranean Sea. Its meadows provide ecosystem services that are essential for the well-being of both marine and human communities. These services include biodiversity and fisheries support, shoreline protection, and water quality improvement. In addition, Posidonia oceanica meadows have a high carbon storage capacity, accumulating carbon in underlying organic deposits, known as matte, where it can remain stored for thousands of years.

Posidonia oceanica has been identified as a priority habitat for conservation under the EU Habitats Directive.

Understanding the data levels

Different mapping sources represent different spatial resolutions and mapped extents.

The platform integrates habitat mapping data derived from remote sensing techniques, including satellite and UAS-acquired high-resolution imagery. In situ habitat mapping and carbon stock measurements supplement the imagery, creating a comprehensive high-resolution dataset.

Drone-based polygons

High-resolution UAS-based mapping, useful for local and fine-scale assessment. Coverage may be limited by the drone survey extent.

PlanetScope-derived polygons

Satellite-based mapping at medium spatial resolution, useful for broader coverage while retaining relatively detailed spatial information.

Sentinel-2-derived polygons

Satellite-based mapping at lower spatial resolution, useful for larger-scale overview and comparison.

These polygon datasets represent different mapping approaches to the same coastal habitat and should not be interpreted as separate ecosystems or be automatically added together. When more than one polygon dataset is selected in the Blue Carbon Tool, the results are calculated and presented separately for each dataset.

Blue Carbon Tool

Carbon stock estimates based on mapped seagrass extent and in situ measurements.

The Blue Carbon Tool provides maps of carbon stocks by extrapolating in situ point measurements at representative locations to stock values based on spatial data from habitat mapping.

In the current platform implementation, the Blue Carbon Tool estimates the sediment organic carbon stock in the upper 30 cm of sediment within mapped Posidonia oceanica polygons. The calculation combines the area of the selected polygon dataset (derived from drone-based, PlanetScope or Sentinel-2 imagery) with the mean sediment organic carbon density calculated from collected and analysed sediment cores.

Calculation estimated sediment carbon stock in project area = mean carbon stock per hectare × project area

The result refers only to the selected polygon dataset. It should not automatically be interpreted as the carbon stock of the entire visible bay or of all satellite layers shown on the map.

Decision Support Tool

Scenario-based calculations inside classified satellite imagery.

The Decision Support Tool performs background calculations to assess the greenhouse gas benefit under different management scenarios or implementation of nature-based solutions in a specific area of the Adriatic-Ionian region.

Scenario A : Baseline carbon stock

The calculation identifies all areas classified as seagrass within the user-defined area and estimates the carbon stock contained in the upper 30 cm of sediment. Stock estimates refer exclusively to sediment organic carbon stored in the upper 30 cm of sediment and do not include carbon contained in living seagrass biomass.

Scenario B : Restoration potential

This scenario estimates the maximum long-term sediment organic carbon stock that could be achieved if an area was successfully restored and eventually attained the carbon stock capacity of established Posidonia oceanica meadows. Site eligibility for restoration is determined solely on the basis of substrate type, with sand and rock areas not currently occupied by Posidonia oceanica considered potentially eligible for restoration.

Limitations: The estimate should be interpreted as a restoration potential rather than a prediction of future carbon gains. Site-specific assessments are required to determine the technical feasibility and ecological suitability of restoration interventions. Restoration success in the Mediterranean is highly variable and depends on factors such as site suitability, restoration method, and long-term protection from disturbances. Furthermore, the survival of transplanted seagrass does not necessarily imply the recovery of ecosystem functions or carbon storage capacity. Given the slow growth of Posidonia oceanica and the long timescales over which sedimentary carbon stocks accumulate, restored meadows may require several decades before approaching the carbon storage levels of mature natural meadows. Long-term ecological monitoring is essential to assess restoration performance and validate carbon outcomes. The scenario does not account for restoration success rates, recovery trajectories, site-specific environmental constraints, or future disturbance regimes.

Source: Pansini, A., Berlino, M., Mangano, M.C., Sarà, G., Ceccherelli, G. Meta-analysis reveals the effectiveness and best practices for the iconic Mediterranean seagrass restoration. Science of the Total Environment 976, 179325 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179325

Scenario C : Degradation risk

This scenario estimates the potential loss of sediment organic carbon that could result from the degradation or disappearance of existing Posidonia oceanica meadows. The calculation applies a loss factor of 53%, assuming that 53% of the sediment organic carbon stock is remineralised within 25 years following meadow degradation (Krause et al. 2025).

Limitations: The values produced by this scenario should be interpreted as indicative estimates of potential carbon loss rather than precise predictions of carbon remineralisation following meadow degradation. The latter depends on a range of factors, including the reactivity and composition of stored organic matter, oxygen exposure, temperature, microbial activity, and the extent and nature of the disturbance. The scenario applies a fixed loss factor and does not account for these site-specific conditions or variations in the rate of carbon loss over time.

Source: Krause, J.R., Cameron, C., Arias-Ortiz, A. et al. Global seagrass carbon stock variability and emissions from seagrass loss. Nature Communications 16, 3798 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59204-4

Data and methodology

Remote sensing, ground truthing, classified habitat maps, and carbon stock information.

Habitat mapping is conducted by applying remote sensing and acoustic methodologies. The selected areas are initially mapped using satellite and UAV data. In situ measurements are then used to validate the results, either by acoustic or visual surveys.

Blue carbon stock assessment quantifies the organic carbon stored in the sediments beneath healthy seagrass meadows within the study areas. Sediment cores are collected and analysed to determine their organic carbon content, focusing on the upper 30 cm. Organic carbon content is measured on an elemental analyser (EA) and used alongside sediment dry bulk density and sampling depth to calculate organic carbon stocks. These measurements provide estimates of carbon stocks per unit area, which can then be combined with habitat mapping data to estimate the total carbon stock across the mapped meadows.

BLUEQ Solution is a decision-support and exploratory WebGIS tool. The estimates provided by the Blue Carbon Tool and Decision Support Tool are based on the currently available datasets, mapped polygon extents, classification outputs, and simplified calculation assumptions.