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Funded Research

Using the ICESAT-GLAS LiDAR to Estimate the Amount, Spatial Distribution, and Statistical Uncertainty of Aboveground Carbon Stocks of the North American Boreal Forest

Andersen, Hans: U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station (Co-Investigator)
Sun, Guoqing: NASA GSFC/University of Maryland (Co-Investigator)
Neigh, Christopher (Chris): NASA GSFC (Participant)
Wulder, Michael (Mike): Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada (Participant)

Project Funding: 2008 - 2011

NRA: 2007 NASA: Carbon Cycle Science   

Funded by NASA

Abstract:
Similar to the NACP-Quebec study, a hierarchical, model-based sampling approach that incorporates ground plots, airborne lidar, ETM land cover products, SRTM topographic information, and a spaceborne lidar is used to develop estimates of aboveground biomass and carbon stocks for the entire North American boreal forest. Specifically, the following data sets are utilized to calculate these biomass and carbon estimates, by stratum within ecozone within province/state, for the NA boreal forest: (1) ground plots measured by provincial foresters or university researchers in Canada; ground plots measured by the US Forest Service, US Army, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, or US National Park Service in Alaska; (2) airborne lidar profiles, acquired using the NASA/Portable Airborne Laser System - PALS, that transit both the ground plots and GLAS pulses; (3) Landsat ETM land cover data sets to stratify the boreal forest - NLCD in Alaska, and the EOSD for all of Canada; (4) SRTM topographic products to develop coarse measures of slope to filter GLAS pulses; and (5) the Geosciences Laser Altimeter System, GLAS, onboard the ICESat Satellite, the primary tool used to sample the continental boreal forest. The PALS data are used to tie ground estimates of biomass to GLAS measurements. Stratified predictive equations are developed that relate PALS estimates of biomass to individual GLAS measurements of canopy structure. These equations are applied to all filtered GLAS shots, by stratum, ecozone, and political unit, across the boreal forest. The model-based approach reported by Stahl et al. (in press, see publicatiions list) is used to generate robust, repeatable, statistically defensible estimates of biomass and carbon for the NA boreal forest.

Publications:

Margolis, H. A., Nelson, R. F., Montesano, P. M., Beaudoin, A., Sun, G., Andersen, H., Wulder, M. A. 2015. Combining satellite lidar, airborne lidar, and ground plots to estimate the amount and distribution of aboveground biomass in the boreal forest of North America. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 45(7), 838-855. DOI: 10.1139/cjfr-2015-0006

Gregoire, T. G., Stahl, G., Naesset, E., Gobakken, T., Nelson, R., Holm, S. 2011. Model-assisted estimation of biomass in a LiDAR sample survey in Hedmark County, NorwayThis article is one of a selection of papers from Extending Forest Inventory and Monitoring over Space and Time. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 41(1), 83-95. DOI: 10.1139/X10-195

Stahl, G., Holm, S., Gregoire, T. G., Gobakken, T., Naesset, E., Nelson, R. 2011. Model-based inference for biomass estimation in a LiDAR sample survey in Hedmark County, NorwayThis article is one of a selection of papers from Extending Forest Inventory and Monitoring over Space and Time. Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 41(1), 96-107. DOI: 10.1139/X10-161

2015 NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Joint Science Workshop Poster(s)

  • G-LiHT: Multi-Sensor Airborne Image Data from Denali to the Yucatan   --   (Bruce Cook, Lawrence A Corp, Douglas Morton, Joel McCorkel)   [abstract]   [poster]
  • Estimating Aboveground Biomass of North American Forests Using a Three-Phased Sampling Approach Based on Ground Plots, Airborne Lidar, and the GLAS Satellite Sensor   --   (Hank A. Margolis, Ross Nelson, Paul Montesano, Guoqing Sun, André Beaudoin, Hans Erik Andersen, Michael Wulder, Bruce Cook, Lawrence A Corp, Bernardus de Jong, Fernando Paz)   [abstract]

2013 NASA Terrestrial Ecology Science Team Meeting Poster(s)

  • Taking stock of circumboreal forest carbon with spaceborne LiDAR   --   (Christopher Neigh, Ross Nelson, Kenneth Jon Ranson, Hank Margolis, Paul Montesano, Guoqing Sun, Viacheslav Kharuk, Erik Nęsset, Michael Wulder, Hans Erik Andersen)   [abstract]

2011 NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Joint Science Workshop Poster(s)

  • Progress in Estimating Boreal Eurasia Biomass Based on ICESat GLAS, ASTER GDEM, and Field Measurements   --   (Christopher Neigh, Ross Nelson, Guoqing Sun, Kenneth Jon Ranson, Paul Montesano, Hank A. Margolis)   [abstract]

2010 NASA Terrestrial Ecology Science Team Meeting Poster(s)

  • Field and Aircraft Observations in Support of DESDynI   --   (Ralph Dubayah, Kathleen Bergen, Bryan Blair, Bruce Cook, Peter Griffith, Forrest Hall, Megan McGroddy, Paul Montesano, Amy Morrell, Ross Nelson, Wenge Ni-Meister, Michael O'Connell, Jon Ranson, Chelsea Robinson, Jeremy Rubio, Sassan Saatchi, Marc Simard, Paul Siqueira, Alan Strahler, Guoqing Sue, Anuradha Swatantran)   [abstract]   [poster]

More details may be found in the following project profile(s):