NASA VEG3D & BIOMASS workshop
The workshop will particularly focus on the NRC Decadal Survey mission recommendations to map vegetation structure and biomass, examine the outcomes of two recent NASA workshops, the ICESAT2 (GLAS) and DESDynI (L-band polarimetry & InSAR and multi-beam Lidar), and assess to what extent these missions could satisfy the global carbon cycle and ecosystem measurements identified so far. The workshop will also consider the BIOMASS (P-band SAR) mission concept currently being recommended as one of ESA's Earth Explorer missions respectively. The specific goals of the workshop are:
* Engagement of a broad community of scientists, remote sensing specialists, and institutions interested in terrestrial carbon cycle, forest biomass and carbon accounting and Veg3D structure in support of DESDynl and BIOMASS
* Definition of measurement requirements, scientific products and applications for reducing uncertainties about global carbon balance, national and global carbon accounting, process models and predictions, and biodiversity and habitat assessment.
* Identification and assessments of the science derived from radar (L-band and P-bnd polarimetry/InSAR and multi-beam lidar sensors recommended for DESDynl and BIOMASS concepts and their complementary measurements
* Identification of areas of research and further development/ investigation
* Planning Publication of review articles, recent case studies, and algorithms to document the state-of-the-art of active remote sensing of vegetation structure and biomass and to promote the mission concepts
* Planning for community education and outreach towards the implementation of the mission concepts.