Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a key metric of carbon storage, yet SOC alone does not fully capture long-term carbon persistence. Improved methods are needed to quantify and characterize organic carbon allocation in soils, including stable mineral-associated fractions and aggregate-level distribution, under regenerative practices such as cover cropping, crop diversification, compost, and reduced tillage. Soil mineralogy, microbiome responses, carbon-water-energy coupling, and land-use context are increasingly recognized as critical but poorly integrated dimensions of sustainable carbon storage. Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) provides a structured framework for quantifying and validating SOC stock changes but remains a weak link for positioning soils as a credible climate solution. We invite contributions spanning soil biogeochemistry, mineralogy, microbial ecology, hydrology, eddy covariance and flux measurements, remote sensing, agronomy, and carbon markets to advance MRV approaches supporting robust, scalable decision-making for climate-smart land management.

• EP - Earth and Planetary Surface Processes
• GC - Global Environmental Change