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Remote Sensing of Above Ground Biomass
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Remote Sensing of Above Ground Biomass

A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Remote Sensing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2017) | Viewed by 116086

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Lalit Kumar

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
East Coast Geospatial Consultants, Armidale, NSW 2350, Australia
Interests: environmental modelling; spatial ecology; climate change impacts; remote sensing; GIS; spatial modelling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Onisimo Mutanga

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Kwazulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
Interests: remote sensing; land use; environment; vegetation; hyperspectral remote sensing; ecosystem ecology; spatial analysis; climate change impact analysist; vegetation mapping
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Vegetation biomass plays a crucial role in understanding and monitoring ecosystem response, and its contribution to the global carbon cycle. The recognition of forests as potential sinks of atmospheric carbon has resulted in numerous studies being conducted in estimating above-ground biomass or carbon stocks across varying scales. In addition, grassland biomass quantification is critical in understanding rangeland productivity as a resource for animal grazing. However, uncertainties in the remote sensing of AGB (Above Ground Biomass) are high due to vegetation structural variations, heterogeneity of landscapes, seasonality and disproportionate data availability, among others. Recent developments in high resolution space-borne and air-borne satellite data have provided an opportunity to better estimate and map AGB across different spatial and temporal scales. The use of drones and UAVs has opened up avenues for super-fine resolution biomass estimation for targeted applications. Recent sensors, such as the Worldview series, now provide meter level spatial resolution, while Sentinel and Landsat 8 provide free data for the whole world, opening up accessibility and more applications of Remote Sensing data, including for biomass estimation.

 

This Special Issue calls for innovative methods and applications to map AGB at different scales. The range of topics includes, but is not limited to:

  • Algorithm development and implementation
  • Accuracy assessment
  • Scaling issues (local–regional–global biomass mapping)
  • Integration of Microwaves (e., LiDAR) and optical sensors
  • Forest biomass mapping
  • Rangeland productivity and abundance (grass biomass, density, cover)
  • Bush encroachment biomass
  • Seasonality and long term biomass monitoring
  • Climate change impacts and temporal monitoring

Prof. Lalit Kumar
Prof. Onisimo Mutanga
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Biomass
  • Hyperspectral Remote Sensing
  • Multipectral analysis
  • LiDAR/Radar
  • Forest Biomass
  • Grasslands
  • Seasonality

Published Papers (15 papers)

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Editorial

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201 KiB  
Editorial
Remote Sensing of Above-Ground Biomass
by Lalit Kumar and Onisimo Mutanga
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(9), 935; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9090935 - 10 Sep 2017
Cited by 160 | Viewed by 14920
Abstract
Accurate measurement and mapping of biomass is a critical component of carbon stock quantification, climate change impact assessment, suitability and location of bio-energy processing plants, assessing fuel for forest fires, and assessing merchandisable timber.[...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Above Ground Biomass)

Research

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6558 KiB  
Article
Evaluating the Differences in Modeling Biophysical Attributes between Deciduous Broadleaved and Evergreen Conifer Forests Using Low-Density Small-Footprint LiDAR Data
by Yoshio Awaya and Tomoaki Takahashi
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(6), 572; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9060572 - 07 Jun 2017
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4077
Abstract
Airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) has been used for forest biomass estimation for the past three decades. The performance of estimation, in particular, has been of great interest. However, the difference in the performance of estimation between stem volume (SV) and total [...] Read more.
Airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) has been used for forest biomass estimation for the past three decades. The performance of estimation, in particular, has been of great interest. However, the difference in the performance of estimation between stem volume (SV) and total dry biomass (TDB) estimations has been a priority topic. We compared the performances between SV and TDB estimations for evergreen conifer and deciduous broadleaved forests by correlation and regression analyses and by combining height and no-height variables to identify statistically useful variables. Thirty-eight canopy variables, such as average and standard deviation of the canopy height, as well as the mid-canopy height of the stands, were computed using LiDAR point data. For the case of conifer forests, TDB showed greater correlation than SV; however, the opposite was the case for deciduous broadleaved forests. The average- and mid-canopy height showed the greatest correlation with TDB and SV for conifer and deciduous broadleaved forests, respectively. Setting the best variable as the first and no-height variables as the second variable, a stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed. Predictions by selected equations slightly underestimated the field data used for validation, and their correlation was very high, exceeding 0.9 for coniferous forests. The coefficient of determination of the two-variable equations was smaller than that of the one-variable equation for broadleaved forests. It is suggested that canopy structure variables were not effective for broadleaved forests. The SV and TDB maps showed quite different frequency distributions. The ratio of the stem part of the broadleaved forest is smaller than that of the coniferous forest. This suggests that SV was relatively smaller than TDB for the case of broadleaved forests compared with coniferous forests, resulting in a more even spatial distribution of TDB than that of SV. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Above Ground Biomass)
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10587 KiB  
Article
Seasonal Timing for Estimating Carbon Mitigation in Revegetation of Abandoned Agricultural Land with High Spatial Resolution Remote Sensing
by Ning Liu, Richard J. Harper, Rebecca N. Handcock, Bradley Evans, Stanley J. Sochacki, Bernard Dell, Lewis L. Walden and Shirong Liu
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(6), 545; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9060545 - 01 Jun 2017
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 6239
Abstract
Dryland salinity is a major land management issue globally, and results in the abandonment of farmland. Revegetation with halophytic shrub species such as Atriplex nummularia for carbon mitigation may be a viable option but to generate carbon credits ongoing monitoring and verification is [...] Read more.
Dryland salinity is a major land management issue globally, and results in the abandonment of farmland. Revegetation with halophytic shrub species such as Atriplex nummularia for carbon mitigation may be a viable option but to generate carbon credits ongoing monitoring and verification is required. This study investigated the utility of high-resolution airborne images (Digital Multi Spectral Imagery (DMSI)) obtained in two seasons to estimate carbon stocks at the plant- and stand-scale. Pixel-scale vegetation indices, sub-pixel fractional green vegetation cover for individual plants, and estimates of the fractional coverage of the grazing plants within entire plots, were extracted from the high-resolution images. Carbon stocks were correlated with both canopy coverage (R2: 0.76–0.89) and spectral-based vegetation indices (R2: 0.77–0.89) with or without the use of the near-infrared spectral band. Indices derived from the dry season image showed a stronger correlation with field measurements of carbon than those derived from the green season image. These results show that in semi-arid environments it is better to estimate saltbush biomass with remote sensing data in the dry season to exclude the effect of pasture, even without the refinement provided by a vegetation classification. The approach of using canopy cover to refine estimates of carbon yield has broader application in shrublands and woodlands. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Above Ground Biomass)
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7175 KiB  
Article
Phenology-Based Biomass Estimation to Support Rangeland Management in Semi-Arid Environments
by Anne Schucknecht, Michele Meroni, Francois Kayitakire and Amadou Boureima
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(5), 463; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050463 - 10 May 2017
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 6428
Abstract
Livestock plays an important economic role in Niger, especially in the semi-arid regions, while being highly vulnerable as a result of the large inter-annual variability of precipitation and, hence, rangeland production. This study aims to support effective rangeland management by developing an approach [...] Read more.
Livestock plays an important economic role in Niger, especially in the semi-arid regions, while being highly vulnerable as a result of the large inter-annual variability of precipitation and, hence, rangeland production. This study aims to support effective rangeland management by developing an approach for mapping rangeland biomass production. The observed spatiotemporal variability of biomass production is utilised to build a model based on ground and remote sensing data for the period 2001 to 2015. Once established, the model can also be used to estimate herbaceous biomass for the current year at the end of the season without the need for new ground data. The phenology-based seasonal cumulative Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (cNDVI), computed from 10-day image composites of the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) NDVI data, was used as proxy for biomass production. A linear regression model was fitted with multi-annual field measurements of herbaceous biomass at the end of the growing season. In addition to a general model utilising all available sites for calibration, different aggregation schemes (i.e., grouping of sites into calibration units) of the study area with a varying number of calibration units and different biophysical meaning were tested. The sampling sites belonging to a specific calibration unit of a selected scheme were aggregated to compute the regression. The different aggregation schemes were evaluated with respect to their predictive power. The results gathered at the different aggregation levels were subjected to cross-validation (cv), applying a jackknife technique (leaving out one year at a time). In general, the model performance increased with increasing model parameterization, indicating the importance of additional unobserved and spatially heterogeneous agro-ecological effects (which might relate to grazing, species composition, optical soil properties, etc.) in modifying the relationship between cNDVI and herbaceous biomass at the end of the season. The biophysical aggregation scheme, the calibration units for which were derived from an unsupervised ISODATA classification utilising 10-day NDVI images taken between January 2001 and December 2015, showed the best performance in respect to the predictive power (R2cv = 0.47) and the cross-validated root-mean-square error (398 kg·ha−1) values, although it was not the model with the highest number of calibration units. The proposed approach can be applied for the timely production of maps of estimated biomass at the end of the growing season before field measurements are made available. These maps can be used for the improved management of rangeland resources, for decisions on fire prevention and aid allocation, and for the planning of more in-depth field missions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Above Ground Biomass)
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6406 KiB  
Article
Modeling Biomass Production in Seasonal Wetlands Using MODIS NDVI Land Surface Phenology
by Maria Lumbierres, Pablo F. Méndez, Javier Bustamante, Ramón Soriguer and Luis Santamaría
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(4), 392; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9040392 - 21 Apr 2017
Cited by 76 | Viewed by 11064
Abstract
Plant primary production is a key driver of several ecosystem functions in seasonal marshes, such as water purification and secondary production by wildlife and domestic animals. Knowledge of the spatio-temporal dynamics of biomass production is therefore essential for the management of resources—particularly in [...] Read more.
Plant primary production is a key driver of several ecosystem functions in seasonal marshes, such as water purification and secondary production by wildlife and domestic animals. Knowledge of the spatio-temporal dynamics of biomass production is therefore essential for the management of resources—particularly in seasonal wetlands with variable flooding regimes. We propose a method to estimate standing aboveground plant biomass using NDVI Land Surface Phenology (LSP) derived from MODIS, which we calibrate and validate in the Doñana National Park’s marsh vegetation. Out of the different estimators tested, the Land Surface Phenology maximum NDVI (LSP-Maximum-NDVI) correlated best with ground-truth data of biomass production at five locations from 2001–2015 used to calibrate the models (R2 = 0.65). Estimators based on a single MODIS NDVI image performed worse (R2 ≤ 0.41). The LSP-Maximum-NDVI estimator was robust to environmental variation in precipitation and hydroperiod, and to spatial variation in the productivity and composition of the plant community. The determination of plant biomass using remote-sensing techniques, adequately supported by ground-truth data, may represent a key tool for the long-term monitoring and management of seasonal marsh ecosystems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Above Ground Biomass)
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3648 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Remote Sensing Inversion Error for the Above-Ground Biomass of Alpine Meadow Grassland Based on Multi-Source Satellite Data
by Baoping Meng, Jing Ge, Tiangang Liang, Shuxia Yang, Jinglong Gao, Qisheng Feng, Xia Cui, Xiaodong Huang and Hongjie Xie
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(4), 372; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9040372 - 16 Apr 2017
Cited by 48 | Viewed by 7756
Abstract
It is not yet clear whether there is any difference in using remote sensing data of different spatial resolutions and filtering methods to improve the above-ground biomass (AGB) estimation accuracy of alpine meadow grassland. In this study, field measurements of AGB and spectral [...] Read more.
It is not yet clear whether there is any difference in using remote sensing data of different spatial resolutions and filtering methods to improve the above-ground biomass (AGB) estimation accuracy of alpine meadow grassland. In this study, field measurements of AGB and spectral data at Sangke Town, Gansu Province, China, in three years (2013–2015) are combined to construct AGB estimation models of alpine meadow grassland based on these different remotely-sensed NDVI data: MODIS, HJ-1B CCD of China and Landsat 8 OLI (denoted as NDVIMOD, NDVICCD and NDVIOLI, respectively). This study aims to investigate the estimation errors of AGB from the three satellite sensors, to examine the influence of different filtering methods on MODIS NDVI for the estimation accuracy of AGB and to evaluate the feasibility of large-scale models applied to a small area. The results showed that: (1) filtering the MODIS NDVI using the Savitzky–Golay (SG), logistic and Gaussian approaches can reduce the AGB estimation error; in particular, the SG method performs the best, with the smallest errors at both the sample plot scale (250 m × 250 m) and the entire study area (33.9% and 34.9%, respectively); (2) the optimum estimation model of grassland AGB in the study area is the exponential model based on NDVIOLI, with estimation errors of 29.1% and 30.7% at the sample plot and the study area scales, respectively; and (3) the estimation errors of grassland AGB models previously constructed at different spatial scales (the Tibetan Plateau, Gannan Prefecture and Xiahe County) are higher than those directly constructed based on the small area of this study by 11.9%–36.4% and 5.3%–29.6% at the sample plot and study area scales, respectively. This study presents an improved monitoring algorithm of alpine natural grassland AGB estimation and provides a clear direction for future improvement of the grassland AGB estimation and grassland productivity from remote sensing technology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Above Ground Biomass)
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6426 KiB  
Article
Comparison and Evaluation of Three Methods for Estimating Forest above Ground Biomass Using TM and GLAS Data
by Kaili Liu, Jindi Wang, Weisheng Zeng and Jinling Song
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(4), 341; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9040341 - 02 Apr 2017
Cited by 51 | Viewed by 6078
Abstract
Medium spatial resolution biomass is a crucial link from the plot to regional and global scales. Although remote-sensing data-based methods have become a primary approach in estimating forest above ground biomass (AGB), many difficulties remain in data resources and prediction approaches. Each kind [...] Read more.
Medium spatial resolution biomass is a crucial link from the plot to regional and global scales. Although remote-sensing data-based methods have become a primary approach in estimating forest above ground biomass (AGB), many difficulties remain in data resources and prediction approaches. Each kind of sensor type and prediction method has its own merits and limitations. To select the proper estimation algorithm and remote-sensing data source, several forest AGB models were developed using different remote-sensing data sources (Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) data and Thematic Mapper (TM) data) and 108 field measurements. Three modeling methods (stepwise regression (SR), support vector regression (SVR) and random forest (RF)) were used to estimate forest AGB over the Daxing’anling Mountains in northeastern China. The results of models using different datasets and three approaches were compared. The random forest AGB model using Landsat5/TM as input data was shown the acceptable modeling accuracy (R2 = 0.95 RMSE = 17.73 Mg/ha) and it was also shown to estimate AGB reliably by cross validation (R2 = 0.71 RMSE = 39.60 Mg/ha). The results also indicated that adding GLAS data significantly improved AGB predictions for the SVR and SR AGB models. In the case of the RF AGB models, including GLAS data no longer led to significant improvement. Finally, a forest biomass map with spatial resolution of 30 m over the Daxing'anling Mountains was generated using the obtained optimal model. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Above Ground Biomass)
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2583 KiB  
Article
Spectroscopic Estimation of Biomass in Canopy Components of Paddy Rice Using Dry Matter and Chlorophyll Indices
by Tao Cheng, Renzhong Song, Dong Li, Kai Zhou, Hengbiao Zheng, Xia Yao, Yongchao Tian, Weixing Cao and Yan Zhu
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(4), 319; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9040319 - 28 Mar 2017
Cited by 48 | Viewed by 6895
Abstract
Crop biomass is a critical variable for characterizing crop growth development, understanding dry matter partitioning, and predicting grain yield. Previous studies on the spectroscopic estimation of crop biomass focused on the use of various spectral indices based on chlorophyll absorption features and found [...] Read more.
Crop biomass is a critical variable for characterizing crop growth development, understanding dry matter partitioning, and predicting grain yield. Previous studies on the spectroscopic estimation of crop biomass focused on the use of various spectral indices based on chlorophyll absorption features and found that they often became saturated at high biomass levels. Given that crop biomass is commonly expressed as the dry weight of canopy components per unit ground area, it may be better estimated using the spectral indices that directly characterize dry matter absorption. This study aims to evaluate a group of four dry matter indices (DMIs) by comparison with a group of four chlorophyll indices (CIs) for estimating the biomass of individual components (e.g., leaves, stems) and their combinations with the field data collected from a two-year rice cultivation experiment. The Red-edge Chlorophyll Index (CIRed-edge) of the CI group exhibited the best relationship with leaf biomass (R2 = 0.82) for the whole growing season and with total biomass (R2 = 0.81), but only for the growth stages before heading. However, the Normalized Difference Index for Leaf Mass per Area (NDLMA) of the DMI group showed the best relationships with both stem biomass (R2 = 0.81) and total biomass (R2 = 0.81) for the whole season. This research demonstrated the suitability of dry matter indices and provided physical explanations for the superior performance of dry matter indices over chlorophyll indices for the estimation of whole-season total biomass. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Above Ground Biomass)
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2044 KiB  
Article
Identifying the Relative Contributions of Climate and Grazing to Both Direction and Magnitude of Alpine Grassland Productivity Dynamics from 1993 to 2011 on the Northern Tibetan Plateau
by Yunfei Feng, Jianshuang Wu, Jing Zhang, Xianzhou Zhang and Chunqiao Song
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(2), 136; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9020136 - 07 Feb 2017
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 5615
Abstract
Alpine grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau are claimed to be sensitive and vulnerable to climate change and human disturbance. The mechanism, direction and magnitude of climatic and anthropogenic influences on net primary productivity (NPP) of various alpine pastures remain under debate. Here, we [...] Read more.
Alpine grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau are claimed to be sensitive and vulnerable to climate change and human disturbance. The mechanism, direction and magnitude of climatic and anthropogenic influences on net primary productivity (NPP) of various alpine pastures remain under debate. Here, we simulated the potential productivity (with only climate variables being considered as drivers; NPPP) and actual productivity (based on remote sensing dataset including both climate and anthropogenic drivers; NPPA) from 1993 to 2011. We denoted the difference between NPPP and NPPA as NPPpc to quantify how much forage can be potentially consumed by livestock. The actually consumed productivity (NPPac) by livestock were estimated based on meat production and daily forage consumption per standardized sheep unit. We hypothesized that the gap between NPPpc and NPPac (NPPgap) indicates the direction of vegetation dynamics, restoration or degradation. Our results show that growing season precipitation rather than temperature significantly relates with NPPgap, although warming was significant for the entire study region while precipitation only significantly increased in the northeastern places. On the Northern Tibetan Plateau, 69.05% of available alpine pastures showed a restoration trend with positive NPPgap, and for 58.74% of alpine pastures, stocking rate is suggested to increase in the future because of the positive mean NPPgap and its increasing trend. This study provides a potential framework for regionally regulating grazing management with aims to restore the degraded pastures and sustainable management of the healthy pastures on the Tibetan Plateau. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Above Ground Biomass)
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1296 KiB  
Article
Fusion of Ultrasonic and Spectral Sensor Data for Improving the Estimation of Biomass in Grasslands with Heterogeneous Sward Structure
by Thomas Moeckel, Hanieh Safari, Björn Reddersen, Thomas Fricke and Michael Wachendorf
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(1), 98; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9010098 - 21 Jan 2017
Cited by 62 | Viewed by 8600
Abstract
An accurate estimation of biomass is needed to understand the spatio-temporal changes of forage resources in pasture ecosystems and to support grazing management decisions. A timely evaluation of biomass is challenging, as it requires efficient means such as technical sensing methods to assess [...] Read more.
An accurate estimation of biomass is needed to understand the spatio-temporal changes of forage resources in pasture ecosystems and to support grazing management decisions. A timely evaluation of biomass is challenging, as it requires efficient means such as technical sensing methods to assess numerous data and create continuous maps. In order to calibrate ultrasonic and spectral sensors, a field experiment with heterogeneous pastures continuously stocked by cows at three grazing intensities was conducted. Sensor data fusion by combining ultrasonic sward height (USH) with narrow band normalized difference spectral index (NDSI) (R2CV = 0.52) or simulated WorldView2 (WV2) (R2CV = 0.48) satellite broad bands increased the prediction accuracy significantly, compared to the exclusive use of USH or spectral measurements. Some combinations were even better than the use of the full hyperspectral information (R2CV = 0.48). Spectral regions related to plant water content were found to be of particular importance (996–1225 nm). Fusion of ultrasonic and spectral sensors is a promising approach to assess biomass even in heterogeneous pastures. However, the suggested technique may have limited usefulness in the second half of the growing season, due to an increasing abundance of senesced material. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Above Ground Biomass)
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3410 KiB  
Article
Estimating Biomass of Native Grass Grown under Complex Management Treatments Using WorldView-3 Spectral Derivatives
by Mbulisi Sibanda, Onisimo Mutanga, Mathieu Rouget and Lalit Kumar
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(1), 55; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9010055 - 11 Jan 2017
Cited by 45 | Viewed by 7417
Abstract
The ability of texture models and red-edge to facilitate the detection of subtle structural vegetation traits could aid in discriminating and mapping grass quantity, a challenge that has been longstanding in the management of grasslands in southern Africa. Subsequently, this work sought to [...] Read more.
The ability of texture models and red-edge to facilitate the detection of subtle structural vegetation traits could aid in discriminating and mapping grass quantity, a challenge that has been longstanding in the management of grasslands in southern Africa. Subsequently, this work sought to explore the robustness of integrating texture metrics and red-edge in predicting the above-ground biomass of grass growing under different levels of mowing and burning in grassland management treatments. Based on the sparse partial least squares regression algorithm, the results of this study showed that red-edge vegetation indices improved above-ground grass biomass from a root mean square error of perdition (RMSEP) of 0.83 kg/m2 to an RMSEP of 0.55 kg/m2. Texture models further improved the accuracy of grass biomass estimation to an RMSEP of 0.35 kg/m2. The combination of texture models and red-edge derivatives (red-edge-derived vegetation indices) resulted in an optimal prediction accuracy of RMSEP 0.2 kg/m2 across all grassland management treatments. These results illustrate the prospect of combining texture metrics with the red-edge in predicting grass biomass across complex grassland management treatments. This offers the detailed spatial information required for grassland policy-making and sustainable grassland management in data-scarce regions such as southern Africa. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Above Ground Biomass)
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5983 KiB  
Article
Potential of ALOS2 and NDVI to Estimate Forest Above-Ground Biomass, and Comparison with Lidar-Derived Estimates
by Gaia Vaglio Laurin, Francesco Pirotti, Mattia Callegari, Qi Chen, Giovanni Cuozzo, Emanuele Lingua, Claudia Notarnicola and Dario Papale
Remote Sens. 2017, 9(1), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9010018 - 29 Dec 2016
Cited by 53 | Viewed by 9085
Abstract
Remote sensing supports carbon estimation, allowing the upscaling of field measurements to large extents. Lidar is considered the premier instrument to estimate above ground biomass, but data are expensive and collected on-demand, with limited spatial and temporal coverage. The previous JERS and ALOS [...] Read more.
Remote sensing supports carbon estimation, allowing the upscaling of field measurements to large extents. Lidar is considered the premier instrument to estimate above ground biomass, but data are expensive and collected on-demand, with limited spatial and temporal coverage. The previous JERS and ALOS SAR satellites data were extensively employed to model forest biomass, with literature suggesting signal saturation at low-moderate biomass values, and an influence of plot size on estimates accuracy. The ALOS2 continuity mission since May 2014 produces data with improved features with respect to the former ALOS, such as increased spatial resolution and reduced revisit time. We used ALOS2 backscatter data, testing also the integration with additional features (SAR textures and NDVI from Landsat 8 data) together with ground truth, to model and map above ground biomass in two mixed forest sites: Tahoe (California) and Asiago (Alps). While texture was useful to improve the model performance, the best model was obtained using joined SAR and NDVI (R2 equal to 0.66). In this model, only a slight saturation was observed, at higher levels than what usually reported in literature for SAR; the trend requires further investigation but the model confirmed the complementarity of optical and SAR datatypes. For comparison purposes, we also generated a biomass map for Asiago using lidar data, and considered a previous lidar-based study for Tahoe; in these areas, the observed R2 were 0.92 for Tahoe and 0.75 for Asiago, respectively. The quantitative comparison of the carbon stocks obtained with the two methods allows discussion of sensor suitability. The range of local variation captured by lidar is higher than those by SAR and NDVI, with the latter showing overestimation. However, this overestimation is very limited for one of the study areas, suggesting that when the purpose is the overall quantification of the stored carbon, especially in areas with high carbon density, satellite data with lower cost and broad coverage can be as effective as lidar. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Above Ground Biomass)
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6987 KiB  
Article
Integration of Optical and X-Band Radar Data for Pasture Biomass Estimation in an Open Savannah Woodland
by Michael Schmidt, John Carter, Grant Stone and Peter O’Reagain
Remote Sens. 2016, 8(12), 989; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs8120989 - 01 Dec 2016
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 6123
Abstract
Pasture biomass is an important quantity globally in livestock industries, carbon balances, and bushfire management. Quantitative estimates of pasture biomass or total standing dry matter (TSDM) at the field scale are much desired by land managers for land-resource management, forage budgeting, and conservation [...] Read more.
Pasture biomass is an important quantity globally in livestock industries, carbon balances, and bushfire management. Quantitative estimates of pasture biomass or total standing dry matter (TSDM) at the field scale are much desired by land managers for land-resource management, forage budgeting, and conservation purposes. Estimates from optical satellite imagery alone tend to saturate in the cover-to-mass relationship and fail to differentiate standing dry matter from litter. X-band radar imagery was added to complement optical imagery with a structural component to improve TSDM estimates in rangelands. High quality paddock-scale field data from a northeastern Australian cattle grazing trial were used to establish a statistical TSDM model by integrating optical satellite image data from the Landsat sensor with observations from the TerraSAR-X (TSX) radar satellite. Data from the dry season of 2014 and the wet season of 2015 resulted in models with adjusted r2 of 0.81 in the dry season and 0.74 in the wet season. The respective models had a mean standard error of 332 kg/ha and 240 kg/ha. The wet and dry season conditions were different, largely due to changed overstorey vegetation conditions, but not greatly in a pasture ‘growth’ sense. A more robust combined-season model was established with an adjusted r2 of 0.76 and a mean standard error of 358 kg/ha. A clear improvement in the model performance could be demonstrated when integrating HH polarised TSX imagery with optical satellite image products. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Above Ground Biomass)
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996 KiB  
Article
Estimation of Winter Wheat Biomass and Yield by Combining the AquaCrop Model and Field Hyperspectral Data
by Xiuliang Jin, Lalit Kumar, Zhenhai Li, Xingang Xu, Guijun Yang and Jihua Wang
Remote Sens. 2016, 8(12), 972; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs8120972 - 24 Nov 2016
Cited by 87 | Viewed by 8644
Abstract
Knowledge of spatial and temporal variations in crop growth is important for crop management and stable crop production for the food security of a country. A combination of crop growth models and remote sensing data is a useful method for monitoring crop growth [...] Read more.
Knowledge of spatial and temporal variations in crop growth is important for crop management and stable crop production for the food security of a country. A combination of crop growth models and remote sensing data is a useful method for monitoring crop growth status and estimating crop yield. The objective of this study was to use spectral-based biomass values generated from spectral indices to calibrate the AquaCrop model using the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to improve biomass and yield estimations. Spectral reflectance and concurrent biomass and yield were measured at the Xiaotangshan experimental site in Beijing, China, during four winter wheat-growing seasons. The results showed that all of the measured spectral indices were correlated with biomass to varying degrees. The normalized difference matter index (NDMI) was the best spectral index for estimating biomass, with the coefficient of determination (R2), root mean square error (RMSE), and relative RMSE (RRMSE) values of 0.77, 1.80 ton/ha, and 25.75%, respectively. The data assimilation method (R2 = 0.83, RMSE = 1.65 ton/ha, and RRMSE = 23.60%) achieved the most accurate biomass estimations compared with the spectral index method. The estimated yield was in good agreement with the measured yield (R2 = 0.82, RMSE = 0.55 ton/ha, and RRMSE = 8.77%). This study offers a new method for agricultural resource management through consistent assessments of winter wheat biomass and yield based on the AquaCrop model and remote sensing data. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Above Ground Biomass)
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Article
The Potential of Forest Biomass Inversion Based on Vegetation Indices Using Multi-Angle CHRIS/PROBA Data
by Qiang Wang, Yong Pang, Zengyuan Li, Guoqing Sun, Erxue Chen and Wenge Ni-Meister
Remote Sens. 2016, 8(11), 891; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs8110891 - 28 Oct 2016
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4765
Abstract
Multi-angle remote sensing can either be regarded as an added source of uncertainty for variable retrieval, or as a source of additional information, which enhances variable retrieval compared to traditional single-angle observation. However, the magnitude of these angular and band effects for forest [...] Read more.
Multi-angle remote sensing can either be regarded as an added source of uncertainty for variable retrieval, or as a source of additional information, which enhances variable retrieval compared to traditional single-angle observation. However, the magnitude of these angular and band effects for forest structure parameters is difficult to quantify. We used the Discrete Anisotropic Radiative Transfer (DART) model and the Zelig model to simulate the forest canopy Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Factor (BRDF) in order to build a look-up table, and eight vegetation indices were used to assess the relationship between BRDF and forest biomass in order to find the sensitive angles and bands. Further, the European Space Agency (ESA) mission, Compact High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer onboard the Project for On-board Autonomy (CHRIS-PROBA) and field sample measurements, were selected to test the angular and band effects on forest biomass retrieval. The results showed that the off-nadir vegetation indices could predict the forest biomass more accurately than the nadir. Additionally, we found that the viewing angle effect is more important, but the band effect could not be ignored, and the sensitive angles for extracting forest biomass are greater viewing angles, especially around the hot and dark spot directions. This work highlighted the combination of angles and bands, and found a new index based on the traditional vegetation index, Atmospherically Resistant Vegetation Index (ARVI), which is calculated by combining sensitive angles and sensitive bands, such as blue band 490 nm/−55°, green band 530 nm/55°, and the red band 697 nm/55°, and the new index was tested to improve the accuracy of forest biomass retrieval. This is a step forward in multi-angle remote sensing applications for mining the hidden relationship between BRDF and forest structure information, in order to increase the utilization efficiency of remote sensing data. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Remote Sensing of Above Ground Biomass)
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