# P03 — Full Provenance Traceability

SCD-P03 · Principle 3 of 10

Full Provenance Traceability

“Without provenance, a number is a narrative.”

Technical Layer

## Definition

The complete chain of custody — from raw sensor or satellite observation to reported metric — must be documented and auditable. Required provenance fields: instrument ID, satellite scene ID and overpass timestamp, calibration method and version, analyst name and organisation, processing software version, and all transformations applied including unit conversions and spatial aggregations.

## Rationale

Carbon credit verification under Verra VM0042 (2026) and CBAM third-party verification (EU 2023/956) both require proof that figures derive from primary instruments, not secondary aggregations of uncertain origin. Digital MRV (dMRV) standards from the Planet2050 × BioCarbon Working Group (2025) identify broken provenance as the leading cause of carbon credit invalidation.

## Implementation Steps 1. For each reported metric, create a provenance record with: source instrument, timestamp, analyst, methodology version, and transformations applied. 2. Store provenance records in a format that is exportable and machine-readable (JSON-LD recommended). 3. Link provenance records to the reported metric via persistent identifier. 4. Implement versioning: when methodology changes, create a new version record — never overwrite. 5. For satellite-derived data: record scene ID, sensor, orbit number, cloud cover, and NDVI delta. ## Compliance Checklist

	Criterion	What it means
☐	Instrument/source documented	Every metric traces to a named instrument or dataset version.
☐	Timestamps recorded in UTC	All events use ISO 8601 UTC timestamps.
☐	Analyst/author attributed	Name and organisation of every analyst is recorded.
☐	Methodology version pinned	Specific version of methodology used is recorded, not just the name.

## Regulatory References - Verra VM0042 Methodology (2026 update) — Section 5 (MRV requirements) - CBAM Regulation EU 2023/956 — Art. 10 (Embedded emissions calculation) - dMRV Working Group — Planet2050 × BioCarbon (2025) ## Recommended Tools and Platforms ESA Sentinel-2 scene IDs NASA Landsat overpass metadata IDEAM Colombia GFW GLAD Lab ## Keywords provenance chain of custody MRV dMRV carbon verification Verra CBAM