Architecture · Sensor-to-credit walkthrough
Sensor to First Earth Credit — End-to-End Walkthrough
The full operational flow from sensor in the ground to first Earth Credit sold and revenue distributed.
Sensor to First Earth Credit — End-to-End Walkthrough
This document walks through the entire flow from “sensor in the ground” to “first Earth Credit sold and revenue distributed.” It is the operational unlock of the architecture.
If you read only one document in this repo to understand what the architecture does (rather than what it is), read this one.
The full flow
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ PRE-DEPLOYMENT (Months 0–10) — already covered in 07-execution/ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
│ Architecture approved; counsel engaged; templates audited;
│ wrapper LLC formed; NRD-lite recorded
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ PHASE 1 — DEPLOYMENT (Weeks 1–4 after architecture approval) │
│ │
│ Template A or B selected. Vermont LLC formed. NRD-lite drafted by │
│ Vermont counsel. NRD-lite recorded at county. Multi-sig wallet │
│ deployed. Beneficiaries KYC'd. Operating agreement signed. │
│ │
│ → Layer 1 (legal anchor) operational. │
│ → Layer 2 (governance vehicle) operational. │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ PHASE 2 — INITIAL ASSESSMENT (Weeks 4–8) │
│ │
│ STEP 1 — Satellite-only baseline │
│ EC-M-1.1 calculator runs against satellite data + public │
│ datasets (MODIS, SoilGrids, GBIF, NASA POWER, FIRMS, etc.) │
│ → Baseline ECI score │
│ → Threat multiplier │
│ → Confidence interval │
│ → Recommendation for sensor-augmentation priorities │
│ │
│ STEP 2 — attestation receipt issued │
│ Cryptographic attestation of: │
│ • Property identifier (linked to NRD-lite recording) │
│ • Methodology version (EC-M-1.1, hash-pinned) │
│ • Input data sources │
│ • Output ECI + threat multiplier │
│ • Confidence bounds │
│ │
│ STEP 3 — Baseline filed │
│ Baseline filed at: │
│ • Wrapper LLC's records │
│ • Registry's record (Layer 3 substrate) │
│ • Methodology archives (3-archive commitment) │
│ │
│ → Property has a baseline. Initial assessment complete. │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ PHASE 3 — SENSOR DEPLOYMENT (Weeks 8–24) │
│ │
│ STEP 4 — Property survey │
│ Site visit; sensor placement plan per Earth Pulse Node spec │
│ Acoustic + camera + soil + weather + power module placement │
│ Permits if needed; landowner consent confirmed │
│ Cultural-protocol restrictions noted (Template C: cultural │
│ guardian sign-off on sensor placement) │
│ │
│ STEP 5 — Hardware procurement │
│ Per-property sensor cluster: $2,000–$3,800 base │
│ Add-ons (water module, canopy module): variable │
│ Density per habitat type per Earth Pulse Node spec │
│ Total per-property hardware: $5,000–$15,000 typical │
│ │
│ STEP 6 — Installation │
│ Sensors deployed at planned locations │
│ LoRaWAN gateway installed for connectivity │
│ Satellite/cellular backhaul confirmed │
│ Edge AI configured (Syntiant NDP wake; Hailo-8L burst) │
│ Power: solar + supercap + LiFePO4 │
│ │
│ STEP 7 — Calibration period │
│ 2–4 weeks of sensor data flowing │
│ Calibration against satellite-derived baselines │
│ Anomaly detection; data quality verification │
│ │
│ → Sensors operational. Continuous data flowing. │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ PHASE 4 — FIRST FULL ASSESSMENT (Week 24) │
│ │
│ STEP 8 — Combined assessment │
│ EC-M-1.1 calculator runs against satellite + sensor + climate │
│ → Updated ECI (typically 0.05–0.15 ECI bump from sensor data │
│ improving confidence on indicators that satellites can't │
│ reach: soil organic carbon, acoustic biodiversity, soundscape │
│ health, etc.) │
│ → Updated threat multiplier │
│ → Tighter confidence interval │
│ │
│ STEP 9 — attestation receipt issued │
│ Cryptographic attestation of full assessment │
│ Includes references to specific sensor data ingested │
│ │
│ STEP 10 — Comparison to baseline │
│ Demonstrates sensor-augmented assessment quality │
│ → Property is ready for credit issuance │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ PHASE 5 — FIRST CREDIT ISSUANCE (Week 24–30) │
│ │
│ STEP 11 — Registry review │
│ Registry function reviews attestation receipt and assessment │
│ Verifies: │
│ • Methodology version is current and approved │
│ • Property is properly registered (wrapper LLC + NRD-lite) │
│ • Beneficiaries are KYC-verified │
│ • No outstanding compliance issues │
│ → Registry approves credit issuance │
│ │
│ STEP 12 — Credit volume calculation │
│ Earth Credits = Verified Acres × ECI_conservative × Threat_Mult │
│ Example: 1,200 acres × 0.65 ECI × 0.55 threat = 429 Earth Credits │
│ (Numbers are illustrative; actual issuance per methodology rules) │
│ │
│ STEP 13 — Credits minted in registry account │
│ Each credit has: │
│ • Unique serial identifier │
│ • Reference to attestation receipt that produced it │
│ • Reference to property's NRD-lite │
│ • Methodology version pinned │
│ • Issuance date and registry signature │
│ │
│ → First credits exist. Registry holds them initially. │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ PHASE 6 — FIRST CREDIT SALE (Week 30–40+) │
│ │
│ STEP 14 — Buyer engagement │
│ First-cohort buyers identified: │
│ • Mission-aligned philanthropic buyer │
│ • Corporate buyer needing TNFD/CSRD-compliant verified data │
│ • Foundation purchasing for retirement (impact claim) │
│ Bilateral sale (Exchange not yet operational) │
│ │
│ STEP 15 — Sale execution │
│ Bilateral purchase agreement │
│ Credits transferred from registry to buyer's registry account │
│ Sale recorded with attestation anchor │
│ │
│ STEP 16 — Revenue routing │
│ Sale proceeds → registry's account → routed to property's │
│ LLC treasury (via Layer 2 wrapper) │
│ Routing reference includes: │
│ • Credits sold (serial numbers) │
│ • Sale price per credit │
│ • Net proceeds (less Exchange fee if any, registry service fee) │
│ │
│ → First Earth Credit sold. First revenue in property treasury. │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
│
▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ PHASE 7 — FIRST DISTRIBUTION (Annually after Phase 6) │
│ │
│ STEP 17 — Distribution module triggered │
│ LLC operating agreement specifies annual distribution │
│ Treasury balance > distribution-event threshold │
│ Multi-sig prepares distribution per Economics module rules │
│ │
│ STEP 18 — Distribution execution │
│ Tier 1 (LLC + multi-sig): │
│ • Multi-sig wallet executes distributions │
│ • Recipients receive cash (USDC) or fiat after off-ramp │
│ • Per Economics module percentages: │
│ - 60–85% landowner direct │
│ - 5% stewardship reserve (held in LLC treasury) │
│ - 2–5% Landseed protocol fee │
│ - Remainder per template │
│ │
│ Tier 2 (smart-contract DAO — not first pilot): │
│ • Smart contract auto-distributes per Economics module │
│ • Multi-sig handles fiat off-ramp │
│ │
│ STEP 19 — Reporting │
│ Annual summary to all beneficiaries │
│ ECI trajectory, credit issuance history, revenue summary │
│ Filed with LLC; Captain Landseed may publish public summary │
│ │
│ → First distribution. Architecture's value delivered to landowner. │
│ │
│ → Cycle continues annually as methodology re-assesses, sensors │
│ continue producing data, credits issue, sales generate revenue. │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘Why this is the unlock
The architecture is genuinely operational as soon as Layer 3 is operational. Specifically:
| Layer 3 component | Status | Sufficient for first credit issuance? |
|---|---|---|
| EC-M-1.1 calculator | Live (landseed-calculator.pages.dev) | ✓ Yes (satellite-only baseline works) |
| attestation receipt mechanism | Specified per attestation infrastructure | ✓ Yes |
| Earth Pulse Network sensors | Hardware spec complete; not yet deployed | ⚠ First credits can issue from satellite-only baseline; sensor deployment improves quality |
| Registry function | Concept defined; underspecified operationally — see 05-interfaces/04-registry-function-specification.md | ⚠ Operational specification needed |
| Methodology Foundation | Recommended; not yet formed | ⚠ Important for continuity but not blocking first issuance |
The architecture is positioned for Layer 3 operation. Once registry function is operationally specified and Methodology Foundation work begins, the architecture is unblocked for first credit issuance.
The legal-and-governance scaffolding (Layers 1 and 2) is the work this NRD-DAO repo addresses. The measurement substrate and registry function (Layer 3) are addressed in:
05-interfaces/04-registry-function-specification.md(this repo)Landseed-PBC/landseed-calculator(calculator)Landseed-PBC/knowledge-base(methodology)Landseed-PBC/earth-credit-package(methodology + financials)
Where the flow can stall
| Stall point | Mitigation |
|---|---|
| NRD-lite drafting takes longer than expected | Per-jurisdiction counsel work begins early; Vermont template ready before first deployment |
| Wrapper LLC formation delayed | Standard formation; multi-week not multi-month |
| Multi-sig wallet setup issues | Pre-tested Safe deployment templates; signers KYC’d in parallel |
| Sensor deployment delayed | Satellite-only baseline allows credit issuance to begin without sensors |
| EC-M-1.1 calculator unreliable | Calculator is live and tested; backup methodology stewards available |
| Registry approval slow | Registry function specification (see 05-interfaces/04-registry-function-specification.md) defines turnaround time |
| First buyer engagement slow | Pre-deployment buyer pipeline; mission-aligned philanthropic buyers as first cohort |
| Multi-sig distribution operational issues | Pre-tested treasury operations; banking partners selected |
Each is addressable at the planning stage; none is architecturally blocking.
Cost progression through the flow
| Phase | Cost (per property) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 (deployment) | $40k–$80k | NRD-lite drafting, LLC formation, multi-sig setup, KYC |
| Phase 2 (initial assessment) | $5k–$15k | Satellite-only assessment; minimal cost |
| Phase 3 (sensor deployment) | $5k–$15k hardware + $5k–$10k installation = $10k–$25k | Hardware per Earth Pulse Node spec |
| Phase 4 (first full assessment) | $2k–$5k | Re-assessment with sensors |
| Phase 5 (first credit issuance) | $2k–$5k | Registry review and minting |
| Phase 6 (first sale) | Variable | Bilateral negotiation; registry/Exchange fees |
| Phase 7 (first distribution) | $1k–$3k per cycle | Treasury operations |
Total per-property cost from sensor deployment to first distribution: ~$60k–$130k.
This is in addition to architecture-level costs (per-jurisdiction counsel, audit, etc.) which amortize across all properties.
Time progression
For a Vermont Template A or B first pilot:
| Phase | Time |
|---|---|
| Phase 1 (deployment) | 8–16 weeks |
| Phase 2 (initial assessment) | 4 weeks |
| Phase 3 (sensor deployment) | 16 weeks |
| Phase 4 (first full assessment) | 4 weeks |
| Phase 5 (first credit issuance) | 6 weeks |
| Phase 6 (first sale) | 8–16 weeks (depends on buyer pipeline) |
| Phase 7 (first distribution) | Annually thereafter |
Total time from architecture approval to first distribution: ~12–18 months. This includes sensor deployment time. Without sensors (satellite-only credit issuance): ~8–12 months.
What this flow demonstrates
The architecture is not just legal scaffolding. It is the operational machinery for issuing Earth Credits — once Layer 3 (sensors + methodology + registry) is operational alongside Layers 1 and 2.
The user asked: “Is this the unlock to issuing earth credits as soon as we have the sensors in the ground?”
The honest answer:
- Yes, the architecture is the legal-and-governance unlock. NRD-lite + LLC + multi-sig + Economics module are the path from sensor data to property treasury to beneficiary distribution.
- But the registry function and Methodology Foundation must be operationally specified for the unlock to be complete. These are documented in
05-interfaces/04-registry-function-specification.mdand00-foundations/07-methodology-foundation.md. - And outside counsel review (securities counsel + per-jurisdiction property counsel) is the precondition for any deployment.
When all three (Layer 3 operational, NRD-DAO architecture approved, outside counsel signoff) align, the architecture is the unlock.
What’s missing if we deployed today
Imagine attempting to deploy at NEWT Nulhegan Basin tomorrow:
| Required | Status |
|---|---|
| NRD-lite Vermont template | Not yet drafted (counsel-engagement task) |
| Vermont LLC formation | Standard; can be done in 2–3 weeks |
| Multi-sig wallet | Standard; can be done in days |
| EC-M-1.1 calculator | Live ✓ |
| Sensor deployment | Hardware spec done; first deployment not yet |
| Registry function | Operationally underspecified |
| Methodology Foundation | Not yet formed |
| Outside securities counsel | Not yet engaged |
| §170(h) Conservation Trust | Not yet formed |
Today, we cannot deploy. Within 12 months of architecture approval, we can. This is what the execution plan in 07-execution/ is for.
Key insight
The architecture’s three layers are decoupled in implementation but coupled in operation:
- Layers 1 and 2 can be deployed for a property even if Layer 3 (sensors) is not yet operational. The legal anchor and governance vehicle exist; they just don’t have anything to consume yet.
- Layer 3 can be operational independently for many properties even before Layers 1 and 2 are deployed for those properties. The methodology and registry can produce assessments and attestation receipts for any property; only Layer 1 + Layer 2 deployment unlocks credit issuance for that property.
This decoupling is why the architecture works incrementally:
- First wave: Vermont Template A/B properties; satellite-only assessment; first credits via direct sale to philanthropic buyers
- Second wave: sensor deployment for first-wave properties; quality improvements; expanded credit issuance
- Third wave: additional jurisdictions; Template C; expanded buyer base
Each wave reinforces the architecture rather than blocking the next.
What this means for the co-architect
For the co-architect, the practical implication: the architecture is positioned for Vermont first-pilot deployment within 12 months of his approval. Sensor deployment can follow in parallel. Credit issuance can begin as soon as Layer 3 is operational for the property. Distributions follow.
This is the unlock he is asking about. It is real, achievable, and 12 months away.