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Using the ICESAT-GLAS LiDAR to Estimate the Amount, Spatial Distribution, and Statistical Uncertainty of Aboveground Carbon Stocks of the North American Boreal Forest
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)
2013 NASA Terrestrial Ecology Science Team Meeting Poster(s)
2011 NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Joint Science Workshop Poster(s)
2010 NASA Terrestrial Ecology Science Team Meeting Poster(s)
More details may be found in the following project profile(s):