Comparison and Evaluation of Three Methods for Estimating Forest above Ground Biomass Using TM and GLAS Data

A combined GLAS and MODIS estimation of the global distribution of mean forest canopy height

Abstract. We present new coarse resolution (0.5° × 0.5°) vegetation height and vegetation-cover fraction data sets between 60° S and 60° N for use in climate models and ecological models. The data sets are derived from 2003–2009 measurements collected by the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) on the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat), the only LiDAR instrument that provides close to global coverage. Initial vegetation height is calculated from GLAS data using a development of the model of Rosette et al. (2008) with with further calibration on desert sites. Filters are developed to identify and eliminate spurious observations in the GLAS data, e.g. data that are affected by clouds, atmosphere and terrain and as such result in erroneous estimates of vegetation height or vegetation cover. Filtered GLAS vegetation height estimates are aggregated in histograms from 0 to 70 m in 0.5 m intervals for each 0.5° × 0.5°. The GLAS vegetation height product is evaluated in four ways. Firstly, the Vegetation height data and data filters are evaluated using aircraft LiDAR measurements of the same for ten sites in the Americas, Europe, and Australia. Application of filters to the GLAS vegetation height estimates increases the correlation with aircraft data from r = 0.33 to r = 0.78, decreases the root-mean-square error by a factor 3 to about 6 m (RMSE) or 4.5 m (68% error distribution) and decreases the bias from 5.7 m to −1.3 m. Secondly, the global aggregated GLAS vegetation height product is tested for sensitivity towards the choice of data quality filters; areas with frequent cloud cover and areas with steep terrain are the most sensitive to the choice of thresholds for the filters. The changes in height estimates by applying different filters are, for the main part, smaller than the overall uncertainty of 4.5–6 m established from the site measurements. Thirdly, the GLAS global vegetation height product is compared with a global vegetation height product typically used in a climate model, a recent global tree height product, and a vegetation greenness product and is shown to produce realistic estimates of vegetation height. Finally, the GLAS bare soil cover fraction is compared globally with the MODIS bare soil fraction (r = 0.65) and with bare soil cover fraction estimates derived from AVHRR NDVI data (r = 0.67); the GLAS tree-cover fraction is compared with the MODIS tree-cover fraction (r = 0.79). The evaluation indicates that filters applied to the GLAS data are conservative and eliminate a large proportion of spurious data, while only in a minority of cases at the cost of removing reliable data as well. The new GLAS vegetation height product appears more realistic than previous data sets used in climate models and ecological models and hence should significantly improve simulations that involve the land surface.

We used publicly available digital spatial datasets to study the area extents and their horizontal variations of two water bodies within the Danjiangkou Reservoir, China. Between 2003 and 2005, the water levels varied from 140 to 149 m above mean sea level as measured by the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS). Detailed procedures to derive the horizontal extents and variations from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) digital elevation model (DEM) coupled with GLAS data and to verify the extents and variations spatially were provided. For the water bodies on the north and west, the surface water extents derived from four MODIS images varied between 174 and 218 km2 and from 96 to 135 km2, respectively. The extents by inundating the DEM using the GLAS data were 178–212 km2 for the water body on the north and 104–118 km2 for the water body on the west. The spatial verifications of surface water extents derived from the MODIS images versus DEM coupled with GLAS data agreed 83–93%. Within the ring areas between water/land boundaries at elevations of 140 and 147 m, and 140 and 149 m, the spatial agreement was 52–75%.

This research examines the role of canopy cover in influencing above ground biomass (AGB) dynamics of an open canopied forest and evaluates the efficacy of individual-based and plot-scale height metrics in predicting AGB variation in the tropical forests of Angkor Thom, Cambodia. The AGB was modeled by including canopy cover from aerial imagery alongside with the two different canopy vertical height metrics derived from LiDAR; the plot average of maximum tree height (Max_CH) of individual trees, and the top of the canopy height (TCH). Two different statistical approaches, log-log ordinary least squares (OLS) and support vector regression (SVR), were used to model AGB variation in the study area. Ten different AGB models were developed using different combinations of airborne predictor variables. It was discovered that the inclusion of canopy cover estimates considerably improved the performance of AGB models for our study area. The most robust model was log-log OLS model comprising of canopy cover only (r = 0.87; RMSE = 42.8 Mg/ha). Other models that approximated field AGB closely included both Max_CH and canopy cover (r = 0.86, RMSE = 44.2 Mg/ha for SVR; and, r = 0.84, RMSE = 47.7 Mg/ha for log-log OLS). Hence, canopy cover should be included when modeling the AGB of open-canopied tropical forests.

Allometric regression models are widely used to estimate tropical forest biomass, but balancing model accuracy with efficiency of implementation remains a major challenge. In addition, while numerous models exist for aboveground mass, very few exist for roots. We developed allometric equations for aboveground biomass (AGB) and root biomass (RB) based on 300 (of 45 species) and 40 (of 25 species) sample trees respectively, in an evergreen forest in Vietnam. The biomass estimations from these local models were compared to regional and pan-tropical models. For AGB we also compared local models that distinguish functional types to an aggregated model, to assess the degree of specificity needed in local models. Besides diameter at breast height (DBH) and tree height (H), wood density (WD) was found to be an important parameter in AGB models. Existing pan-tropical models resulted in up to 27% higher estimates of AGB, and overestimated RB by nearly 150%, indicating the greater accuracy of local models at the plot level. Our functional group aggregated local model which combined data for all species, was as accurate in estimating AGB as functional type specific models, indicating that a local aggregated model is the best choice for predicting plot level AGB in tropical forests. Finally our study presents the first allometric biomass models for aboveground and root biomass in forests in Vietnam.

The ecosystem in northeastern China and the Russian Far East is a hotspot of scientific research into the global carbon balance. Forest aboveground biomass (AGB) is an important component in the land surface carbon cycle. In this study, using forest inventory data and forest distribution data, the AGB was estimated for forest in Daxinganlin in northeastern China by combining charge-coupled device (CCD) data from the Small Satellite for Disaster and Environment Monitoring and Forecast (HJ-1) and Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) waveform data from the Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat). The forest AGB prediction models were separately developed for different forest types in the research area at GLAS footprint level from GLAS waveform parameters and field survey plot biomass in the Changqing (CQ) Forest Center, which was calculated from forest inventory data. The resulted statistical regression models have a R2=0.68 for conifer and R2=0.71 for broadleaf forests. These models were used to estimate biomass for all GLAS footprints of forest located in the study area. All GLAS footprint biomass coupled with various spectral reflectivity parameters and vegetation indices derived from HJ-1 satellite CCD data were used in multiple regression analyses to establish biomass prediction models (R2=0.55 and R2=0.52 for needle and broadleaf respectively). Then the models were used to produce a forest AGB map for the whole study area using the HJ-1 data. Biomass data obtained from forest inventory data of the Zhuanglin (ZL) Forest Center were used as independent field measurements to validate the AGB estimated from HJ-1 CCD data (R2=0.71). About 80% of biomass samples had an error less than 20 t ha−1, and the mean error of all validation samples is 5.74 t ha−1. The pixel-level biomass map was then stratified into different biomass levels to illustrate the AGB spatial distribution pattern in this area. It was found that HJ-1 wide-swath data and GLAS waveform data can be combined to estimate forest biomass with good precision, and the biomass data can be used as input data for future carbon budget analysis.

Forest above-ground biomass estimation based on strongly collinear variables derived from airborne laser scanning data

Large-scale retrieval of leaf area index and vertical foliage profile from the spaceborne waveform lidar (GLAS/ICESat)

To understand forest structures, the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) instrument have been employed to measure and monitor forest canopy with feasibility of acquiring three dimensional canopy structure information. This study tried to examine the potential of GLAS dataset in measuring forest canopy structures, particularly maximum canopy height estimation. To estimate maximum canopy height using feasible GLAS dataset, we simply used difference between signal start and ground peak derived from Gaussian decomposition method. After estimation procedure, maximum canopy height was derived from airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data and it was applied to evaluate the accuracy of that of GLAS estimation. In addition, several influences, such as topographical and biophysical factors, were analyzed and discussed to explain error sources of direct maximum canopy height estimation using GLAS data. In the result of estimation using direct method, a root mean square error (RMSE) was estimated at 8.15 m. The estimation tended to be overestimated when comparing to derivations of airborne LiDAR. According to the result of error occurrences analysis, we need to consider these error sources, particularly terrain slope within GLAS footprint, and to apply statistical regression approach based on various parameters from a Gaussian decomposition for accurate and reliable maximum canopy height estimation.

Estimating aboveground biomass in subtropical forests of China by integrating multisource remote sensing and ground data

Remote sensing studies aiming at assessing woody biomass have demonstrated a strong relationship between canopy height and plot-level aboveground biomass, but most of these studies focused on closed canopy forests. To date, a few studies have examined the strength and reliability of this relationship using large footprint lidar in savannas. Furthermore, there have been few studies of appropriate methods for the comparison of models that relate aboveground biomass to canopy height metrics without consideration of variation in species composition (generic models) to models developed for individual species composition or vegetation types. We developed generic models using the classical least-squares regression modeling approach to relate selected canopy height metrics to aboveground woody biomass in a savanna landscape. Hierarchical Bayesian analysis (HBA) was then used to explore the implications of using generic or composition-specific models. Our study used the estimates of aboveground biomass from field data, canopy height estimates from airborne discrete return lidar, and a proxy for canopy cover (the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) from Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper data, collected from the oak savannas of Tejon Ranch Conservancy in Kern County, California. Models were developed and analyzed using estimates of canopy height and aboveground biomass calculated at the level of 50-m diameter plots, comparable with footprint diameter of existing large footprint spaceborne lidar data. The two generic models that incorporated canopy cover proxies performed better than one model that did not use canopy cover information. From the HBA, we found out that for all models both the intercept and slope had interspecific variability. The valley oak dominated plots consistently had higher slopes and intercepts, whereas the plots dominated by blue oaks had the lowest. However, the intercept and slope values of the composition-specific models did not differ much from the generic (overall) values and their 95% credible intervals (CIs) overlapped the generic mean values. We conclude that the narrow range of the distribution and the overlap of the CIs of the composition-specific and generic parameters suggest that scaling rules do exist for savannas. The distribution of the posterior densities of the differences between composition-level and generic-level parameter values showed high support for the use of generic parameters, suggesting that all three models are applicable across the range of compositions in this study. Therefore, in this case, the choice of method depends more on secondary considerations such as data availability and scale of analyses.

Spatially continuous and accurate estimation of forest aboveground biomass (AGB) is essential for understanding carbon storage, ecosystem health, and biodiversity. Forests of the southeastern United States (US) represent about 40% of the nation’s forest area and one of the most significant carbon sequestration and storage potentials in the US. The availability of data from more recent and long-standing Earth-observing missions, like spaceborne light detection and ranging data from NASA’s Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) and imagery from Landsat satellites, present an exemplary opportunity to characterize vegetation structure and AGB. Despite this potential, the extent to which data from these ongoing missions can be used synergistically for AGB estimation at the regional scale is not well known. This study served to better understand the combined utility of Landsat and ICESat-2 for developing a large-area AGB mapping framework. Specifically, this work served to: (1) determine the best modeling technique for estimating field-derived AGB using ICESat-2 and Landsat-derived variables, among machine learning (random forest (RF) and support vector machine (SVM)) and geostatistical approaches (random forest regression kriging (RFRK) and support vector machine regression kriging (SVMRK)), and (2) create a high-resolution (30 m) baseline AGB map for the year 2020 across ~254,266 km² of forests of the southeastern US. Canopy height information from ICESat-2, Landsat-8 imagery and imagery-derived variables, digital elevation models, and canopy cover were used to model AGB. Resulting models yielded R2 values ranging from 0.34 to 0.61, and RMSEs between 22 and 31 Mg/ha. Evidently, AGB estimated using the SVMRK model was substantially better than the other models (R2 = 0.61 and RMSE = 23.99 Mg/ha), highlighting its potential for broad-scale AGB mapping. Overall, this work highlights a feasible approach for deriving spatially comprehensive AGB information for southeastern US forests and provides a high-resolution AGB baseline product to support regional-scale monitoring.

Topography is fundamental to numerous environmental studies for understanding Earth surface processes. With a near global coverage, satellite lidar Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) onboard Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) provides valuable terrain elevation information via Gaussian decomposition of its waveforms. It is commonly assumed that the lowest decomposed Gaussian peak corresponds to terrain surface. Although this assumption is valid over flat areas with sparse canopy, it might be problematic over sloped areas with surface objects. This letter proposes a new algorithm to estimate ground elevation over mountainous vegetated areas using GLAS data in conjunction with Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission Digital Elevation Models (SRTM DEMs). It was found that incorporating SRTM DEM can reduce the bias of the mean ground elevation estimates by up to 1-3 m. This letter also suggests that more research is needed for improving ground elevation estimates over mountainous areas with relatively open canopy.

Glaciers play an important role in the climate system. The elevation change of a glacier is an important parameter in studies of glacier dynamics. Only a few ground-based measurements of high mountain glaciers are available due to their remoteness, high elevation, and complex topography. The acquisition from the German TanDEM-X (TerraSAR-X add-on for Digital Elevation Measurement) SAR imaging configuration provides a reliable data sources for studying the elevation change of glaciers. In this study, the bistatic TanDEM-X data that cover the Geladandong Mountain on the Tibetan Plateau were processed with SAR interferometry technique and the elevation changes of the mountain’s glaciers during 2000–2014 were obtained. The results indicated that although distinct positive and negative elevation changes were found for different glacier tongues, the mean elevation change was about -0.14±0.26 m a-1. Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) data were obtained for comparison and verification. The investigation using GLAS data demonstrated the efficacy of the proposed method in determining glacier elevation change. Thus, the presented approach is appropriate for monitoring glacier elevation change and it constitutes a valuable tool for studies of glacier dynamics.

Accurate estimation of forest aboveground biomass is essential for the assessment of regional carbon cycle and the climate change in the terrestrial ecosystem. Currently, ensemble learning algorithms and cross-validation methods have been widely applied to estimate regional forest Above Ground Biomass (AGB). However, the effects of ensemble learning algorithms, validation methods, and their interactions on forest AGB estimation were rarely investigated. Based on Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) imagery, Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) data and China’s National Forest Continuous Inventory data, this study explored the effects of five ensemble learning algorithms, including Simple Averaging (SA), Weighted Averaging (WA), Stacked Generalization (SG), Random Forest (RF) and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), and two validation approaches (i.e. 10-fold and leave-one-out cross-validation) on the AGB estimation of the Natural Secondary Forests (NSFs) in northeast China. The results revealed that the ensemble learning algorithms that combine heterogenous-based models (i.e. SA, WA, SG) generally produced higher accuracy than the base models (i.e. Decision Tree (DT), K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN), Support Vector Regression (SVR), Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)). Among all ensemble learning algorithms, the SG algorithm has the highest accuracy whereas the XGBoost algorithm has the lowest accuracy. Although prediction models considerably impact the accuracy of AGB estimation, the validation approach also plays a non-negligible role in AGB estimation. The leave-one-out cross-validation produced much higher accuracy than the 10-fold cross-validation using the same prediction model and tends to generate over-optimistic AGB estimates compared to 10-fold cross-validation, especially for the averaging and stacking ensemble learning algorithms (i.e. SA, WA, SG). This study highlights the potential challenges of applying a leave-one-out cross-validation approach and provides a scientific foundation for the feasibility of different ensemble learning algorithms and cross-validation approaches for accurate AGB estimation.