Evaluation of approaches to estimating aboveground biomass in southern pine forests using SIR-C data
- Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States). School of the Environment
- Environmental Research of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States). Center for Earth Sciences
Estimation of forest biomass on a global basis is a key issue in studies of ecology and biogeochemical cycling. Forests are a terrestrial sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide and play a central role in regulating the exchange of this important greenhouse gas between the atmosphere and the biosphere. A study was performed to evaluate various techniques for estimating aboveground, woody plant biomass in pine stands found in the southeastern United States, using C- and L- band multiple polarization radar imagery collected by the Shuttle Imaging Radar-C (SIR-C) system. The biomass levels present in the test stands ranged between 0.0 and 44.5 kg m{sup {minus}2}. Two SIR-C data sets were used one collected in April, 1994, when the soil conditions were very wet and the canopy was slightly wet from dew and a second collected in October, 1994, when the soils and canopy were dry. During the October mission, pine needles were completely flushed and the foliar biomass was twice as great in the forest stands as in April. Four methods were evaluated to estimate total biomass: one including a straight multiple linear correlation between total biomass and the various SIR-C channels, another including a ratio of the L-band HV/C-band HV channels; and two others requiring multiple steps, where linear regression equations for different stand components were used as the basis for estimating total biomass.
- OSTI ID:
- 323792
- Journal Information:
- Remote Sensing of Environment, Journal Name: Remote Sensing of Environment Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 59; ISSN RSEEA7; ISSN 0034-4257
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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