The Customer - SNCF TER 

At the Corporate Climate Convention, over 150 companies came together to create and establish cooperative projects towards the regenerative economy by 2030. At that time, the SNCF technicentre renaturation project was born. These industrial railway sites are so artificialized that they are almost devoid of nature. Their renaturation could bring many benefits to the surrounding areas. The SNCF called on Netcarbon to quantify the benefits for the state of vegetation and carbon flows on the technicentre site in Rennes.

The challenge

How can we promote the renaturation of artificial areas?

• Draw up an inventory of vegetation and carbon stocks in the Rennes Technicentre area, based on both satellite data and soil sampling.
• Undertake renaturation projects to improve biodiversity, soil condition and vegetation to promote carbon storage.
• Quantify the impact of the project using satellite data and soil samples taken 5 years later.

Project milestones: SNCF TER x Netcarbon

Innovation in land assessment and monitoring thanks to Netcarbon and satellite data

Achieving objectives requires precise, static measurements, but also measurements that can evolve and change over time in response to new objectives and actions. Netcarbon provides an innovative solution, using satellite data to assess an area over time more quickly and efficiently than other conventional quantification methods. Netcarbon technology, based on artificial intelligence and satellite imagery, provides real-time data on relevant project indicators.

Netcarbon's work began in two stages. Firstly, soil samples were taken from the SNCF TER maintenance site in Rennes to measure the impact of either renaturation actions or building construction on soil health.

Next, satellite analysis was carried out to further understand the area in terms of various indicators, including soil classification, vegetation vigour and moisture, and carbon flux monitoring.

These two types of data enable a correlation to be established between the state of the vegetation absorbed by satellite and the physico-chemical parameters measured by sampling. Based on these data, Netcarbon was able to assess and monitor changes in the area, using a number of key indicators: soil carbon stock, carbon storage, temperature monitoring, soil classification, vegetation condition and vegetation humidity.

The next steps in the collaboration will involve the Netcarbon application, which simulates potential projects and shows their annual impacts on soils, carbon storage and vegetation. This feature allows an unlimited number of projects to be run on the application, in order to find the best ones for the area.

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Why Netcarbon

Measuring and improving the impact of renaturation projects

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Netcarbon collects and processes large-scale satellite data, producing various sets of indicators linked to carbon storage. These indicators have enabled SNCF TER to better understand its territory in order to improve soil condition, vegetation and other benefits. The project has resulted in the planting of 25 trees, 181 shrubs and 17 plant species, and will eventually lead to the creation of a new 5,000 square meter area. The Netcarbon application will then enable real-time monitoring of these future projects, as well as the possibility of simulating them to see their impact on all key indicators.

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