Premium
Lidar remote sensing of above‐ground biomass in three biomes
Author(s) -
Lefsky Michael A.,
Cohen Warren B.,
Harding David J.,
Parker Geoffrey G.,
Acker Steven A.,
Gower S. Thomas
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
global ecology and biogeography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.164
H-Index - 152
eISSN - 1466-8238
pISSN - 1466-822X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1466-822x.2002.00303.x
Subject(s) - biome , lidar , biomass (ecology) , environmental science , temperate climate , deciduous , taiga , canopy , boreal , remote sensing , atmospheric sciences , ecology , temperate rainforest , temperate forest , carbon cycle , ecosystem , physical geography , geography , forestry , geology , biology
Estimation of the amount of carbon stored in forests is a key challenge for understanding the global carbon cycle, one which remote sensing is expected to help address. However, estimation of carbon storage in moderate to high biomass forests is difficult for conventional optical and radar sensors. Lidar ( li ght d etection and r anging) instruments measure the vertical structure of forests and thus hold great promise for remotely sensing the quantity and spatial organization of forest biomass. In this study, we compare the relationships between lidar‐measured canopy structure and coincident field measurements of above‐ground biomass at sites in the temperate deciduous, temperate coniferous, and boreal coniferous biomes. A single regression for all three sites is compared with equations derived for each site individually. The single equation explains 84% of variance in above‐ground biomass ( P < 0.0001) and shows no statistically significant bias in its predictions for any individual site.