Statewide Mapping of Forest Structure and Standing Biomass in North Carolina Using Small Footprint Lidar and Field Plot Data

Chengquan Huang, University of Maryland, cqhuang@umd.edu (Presenter)
Yong Pang, University of Maryland, caf.pang@gmail.com
Chris Toney, USDA Forest Service, christoney@fs.fed.us
Ralph Dubayah, University of Maryland, dubayah@umd.edu

Capable of measuring height explicitly, lidar technology provides an effective means for deriving vegetation structural attributes and standing biomass. While often acquired for other purposes, airborne lidar data are becoming increasingly available for vegetation studies. The purpose of this study is to use a small footprint lidar data set covering almost the entire state of North Carolina to map forest structure and standing biomass. First, various height and density metrics were calculated using the small footprint lidar data overlaid on 30 m grids. Field plot data were then used to establish relationships between forest structural attributes and those metrics. Good relationships have been found between those biophysical parameters and lidar indices. The established relationships will be applied to the entire lidar data set to produce statewide data products on forest structure and standing biomass. These data products will be evaluated through cross validation, and where available, independent reference datasets.

Presentation Type:  Poster

Session:  Global Change Impact & Vulnerability   (Tue 11:30 AM)

Associated Project(s): 

• Dubayah, Ralph: Combining lidar/radar fusion, allometric scaling theory, and ecosystem modeling for improved estimation of forest biomass, structure and dynamics ...details
• Huang, Chengquan: Integration of long term Landsat observations with DESDynI measurements for monitoring terrestrial carbon flux within and beyond the DESDynI mission ...details

Poster Location ID: 211