Estimation of tropical forest structural characteristics, using large-footprint lidar

J B Drake; R O Dubayah; D B Clark; R G Knox; J B Blair; M A Hofton; Robin L Chazdon; J F Weishampel; S Prince

doi:10.1016/S0034-4257(01)00281-4

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Estimation of tropical forest structural characteristics, using large-footprint lidar

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Estimation of tropical forest structural characteristics, using large-footprint lidar

J B Drake, R O Dubayah, D B Clark, R G Knox, J B Blair, M A Hofton, Robin L Chazdon, J F Weishampel and S Prince

Remote Sensing of Environment, Vol.79(2-3), pp.305-319

2002

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0034-4257(01)00281-4

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Abstract

aboveground biomasss

carbon

forest structure

tropical forests

lidar remote sensing

laser altimeter

Costa Rica

Quantification of forest structure is important for developing a better understanding of how forest ecosystems function. Additionally, estimation of forest structural attributes, such as aboveground biomass (AGBM), is an important step in identifying the amount of carbon in terrestrial vegetation pools and is central to global carbon cycle studies. Although current remote sensing techniques recover such tropical forest structure poorly, new large-footprint lidar instruments show great promise. As part of a prelaunch validation plan for the Vegetation Canopy Lidar (VCL) mission, the Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS), a large-footprint airborne scanning lidar, was flown over the La Selva Biological Station, a tropical wet forest site in Costa Rica. The primary objective of this study was to test the ability of large-footprint lidar instruments to recover forest structural characteristics across a spectrum of land cover types from pasture to secondary and primary tropical forests. LVIS metrics were able to predict field-derived quadratic mean stem diameter (QMSD), basal area, and AGBM with R2 values of up to .93, .72, and .93, respectively. These relationships were significant and nonasymptotic through the entire range of conditions sampled at the La Selva. Out results confirm the ability of large-footprint lidar instruments to estimate important structural attributes, including biomass in dense tropical forests, and when taken along with similar results from studies in temperate forests, strongly validate the VCL mission framework. © 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

Details

Title: Estimation of tropical forest structural characteristics, using large-footprint lidar
Authors: J B Drake (Author) - University of Maryland, United States
R O Dubayah (Author) - University of Maryland, United States
D B Clark (Author) - University of Missouri-St Louis, United States
R G Knox (Author) - NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre, United States
J B Blair (Author) - NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre, United States
M A Hofton (Author) - University of Maryland, United States
Robin L Chazdon (Author) - University of Connecticut, United States
J F Weishampel (Author) - University of Central Florida, United States
S Prince (Author) - University of Maryland, United States
Publication details: Remote Sensing of Environment, Vol.79(2-3), pp.305-319
Publisher: Elsevier Inc.
Date published: 2002
DOI: 10.1016/S0034-4257(01)00281-4
ISSN: 0034-4257
Organisation Unit: Tropical Forests and People Research Centre; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Forest Research Institute
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99450604402621
Output Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Environmental Sciences; Imaging Science & Photographic Technology; Remote Sensing

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