A Baccini et al 2008 Environ. Res. Lett. 3 045011 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/3/4/045011
A Baccini1, N Laporte1, S J Goetz1, M Sun1 and H Dong2
Show affiliationsPart of Focus on Tropical Deforestation and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Observations from the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) were used in combination with a large data set of field measurements to map woody above-ground biomass (AGB) across tropical Africa. We generated a best-quality cloud-free mosaic of MODIS satellite reflectance observations for the period 2000–2003 and used a regression tree model to predict AGB at 1 km resolution. Results based on a cross-validation approach show that the model explained 82% of the variance in AGB, with a root mean square error of 50.5 Mg ha−1 for a range of biomass between 0 and 454 Mg ha−1. Analysis of lidar metrics from the Geoscience Laser Altimetry System (GLAS), which are sensitive to vegetation structure, indicate that the model successfully captured the regional distribution of AGB. The results showed a strong positive correlation (R2 = 0.90) between the GLAS height metrics and predicted AGB.
93.85.De Exploration of continental structures
92.60.Fm Boundary layer structure and processes
84.40.Xb Telemetry: remote control, remote sensing; radar
Issue 4 (October-December 2008)
Received 6 May 2008, accepted for publication 19 November 2008
Published 10 December 2008
A Baccini et al 2008 Environ. Res. Lett. 3 045011
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