The Role and Need for Space-Based Forest Biomass-Related Measurements in Environmental Management and Policy

Abstract

The achievement of international goals and national commitments related to forest conservation and management, climate change, and sustainable development requires credible, accurate, and reliable monitoring of stocks and changes in forest biomass and carbon. Most prominently, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals in particular require data on biomass to monitor progress. Unprecedented opportunities to provide forest biomass data are created by a series of upcoming space-based missions, many of which provide open data targeted at large areas and better spatial resolution biomass monitoring than has previously been achieved. We assess various policy needs for biomass data and recommend a long-term collaborative effort among forest biomass data producers and users to meet these needs. A gap remains, however, between what can be achieved in the research domain and what is required to support policy making and meet reporting requirements. There is no single biomass dataset that serves all users in terms of definition and type of biomass measurement, geographic area, and uncertainty requirements, and whether there is need for the most recent up-to-date biomass estimate or a long-term biomass trend. The research and user communities should embrace the potential strength of the multitude of upcoming missions in combination to provide for these varying needs and to ensure continuity for long-term data provision which one-off research missions cannot provide. International coordination bodies such as Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI), Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), and Global Observation of Forest Cover and Land Dynamics (GOFC-GOLD) will be integral in addressing these issues in a way that fulfils these needs in a timely fashion. Further coordination work should particularly look into how space-based data can be better linked with field reference data sources such as forest plot networks, and there is also a need to ensure that reference data cover a range of forest types, management regimes, and disturbance regimes worldwide.

Estimation of Forest Growing Stock Volume with UAV Laser Scanning Data: Can It Be Done without Field Data?

“…Maps and estimates of forest V and its changes are central to understand the carbon and water cycles, for assessing the climate change mitigation potential of forests and to quantify ecosystem services [1]. Several earth observation missions, such as Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI), NASA-ISRO SAR Mission (NISAR), and BIOMASS, aim specifically at mapping forest AGB and will improve our ability to consistently map and estimate forest resources across the globe [2,3]. Still, all operational applications of remote sensing techniques for forest inventory require field observations for calibration of models and their validation [4].…”

Classifications of Forest Change by Using Bitemporal Airborne Laser Scanner Data

“…This has greatly facilitated the use of remotely sensed data for forest monitoring across various spatial and temporal scales. At global and national levels, coarse resolution optical satellite imagery provides useful information for estimating forest cover [11,12] and biomass [13,14]. At the level of forest properties and stands, high-resolution three-dimensional data have proven particularly useful for forest inventory applications [15].…”

The BIOMASS Level 2 Prototype Processor: Design and Experimental Results of Above-Ground Biomass Estimation

“…In this framework the BIOMASS mission was selected as the seventh Earth Explorer in May 2013 [3,4]. The scientific goal of BIOMASS is to provide frequent global maps of AGB, FH and forest disturbance (FD) at a resolution and accuracy compatible with the needs of international reporting on carbon stocks [9] and terrestrial carbon modeling [1,6]. BIOMASS will carry the first P-band radar in space (435 MHz) with multi-baseline interferometric and fully-polarimetric capabilities.…”