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ACTIVE REMOTE SENSING FOR TOTAL ABOVEGROUND BIOMASS ESTIMATION OVER TROPICAL RAINFOREST

– Suraya Jamaluddin –

Chapter 1 – Done

Chapter 2 – In progress

Chapter 3 – In progress

Chapter 4 – In progress

Chapter 5 – In progress

A laser-based instrument being developed for the International Space Station will provide a unique 3-D view of Earth’s forests, helping to fill in missing information about their role in the carbon cycle. Called the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) lidar, the instrument will be the first to systematically probe the depths of the forests from space. In particular, the GEDI data will provide us with global-scale insights into how much carbon is being stored in the forest biomass. This information will be particularly powerful when combined with the historical record of changes captured by the U.S.’s long-standing program of Earth-orbiting satellites, such as Landsat and Modis. By revealing the 3-D architecture of forests in unprecedented detail, GEDI will provide crucial information about the impact that trees have on the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Although it is well-established that trees absorb carbon and store it long-term, scientists have not quantified exactly how much carbon forests contain. As a result, it’s not possible to determine how much carbon would be released if a forest were destroyed, nor how well emissions could be countered by planting new trees. GEDI can do this because it’s a laser-based system, called a lidar, that can measure the distance from the space-based instrument to Earth’s surface with enough accuracy to detect subtle variations, including the tops of trees, the ground, and the vertical distribution of aboveground biomass in forests. Its immediate predecessors are Goddard’s Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) and airborne Land, Vegetation and Ice Sensor, known as LVIS, which is flown on high-altitude aircraft to measure forests, land topography, ice sheets, glaciers and sea ice. GEDI is scheduled to be completed in 2018. NASA’s Earth Venture Instrument program is part of the Earth System Science Pathfinder program, managed by NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. The GEDI team includes co-investigators from Goddard; Woods Hole Research Center, Woods Hole, Massachusetts; the U.S. Forest Service, Ogden, Utah; and Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.

taken from (http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/new-nasa-probe-will-study-earth-s-forests-in-3-d/#.VRa1sfmUcZx)

Technology is absolutely critical to managing our planet. Technology can change our understanding of nature. They created device which is called CAO integrating high sensitivity imaging spectrometer (hyperspectral) to measure chemical composition of plants and high powered lasers (LiDAR) to descrive vertical profile of forest structure. They can manage the entire planet with technologies. The real power of the CAO is its ability to capture the actual building blocks of ecosystems. They’ve been using the technology to explore and to actually put out the first carbon geographies in high resolution in faraway places like the Amazon Basin and not-so-faraway places like the United States and Central America. What’s good is that the technology they’ve developed and they’re working with in South Africa is allowing them to map every single tree . Carbon mapping has transformed conservation and resource policy development. It’s really advancing our ability to save forests and to curb climate change. Briefly, this is awesome device for planet .

CAO datasets showing three dimensional structure of vegetations and buildings

CAO datasets showing different tree species within forests structure

The goal of this study is to help researchers determine their volumes, to translate that into mass. It’s less invasive than actually weighing them. UNAVCO supported ongoing research of Weddell seal populations of McMurdo Sound with TLS data and engineering in November 2013. Two UNAVCO TLS instruments were used in unison to instantaneously collect a high-resolution scan of Weddell seals lying on sea ice.

A novel methodology is being developed for efficient volume estimation of individual Weddell seals during the annual pupping season. In previous attempts, the movement of seals between repeat scans has limited the usefulness of LiDAR to accurately determine seal volume. A proof-of-concept survey was attempted this season to capture a full-coverage seal scan by deploying two scanners in unison. The method is promising for estimating seal volumes more accurately and more quickly than traditional time-intensive survey methods, thereby increasing both the frequency and number of seal volume estimates. These mass measurements (derived from volume) are critical data for this population dynamic research on the Weddell seal, one of the longest running mammal population studies.

For more information: http://www.montana.edu/rgarrott/antarctica/index.htm

Dual Wavelength Echidna LiDAR (DWEL) was developed by the University of Boston, University of Massachusetts, Boston, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, USA, and CSIRO, Australia (Douglas et al., 2012). Another one is the Salford Advanced Laser Canopy Analyser (SALCA) developed by the University of Salford, UK.

Both of these instruments were purpose-built to measure structural characteristics of forest canopies. Selection of wavelengths (near- and middle-infrared) is based on different reflectivity from foliage and branches. Index is developed based on these two spectral bands. Results of combination of these two wavelength are shown in figure below.

CESat data are distributed by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). GLAS produces 16 data products including Levels 1A, 1B, and 2 laser altimetry and atmospheric lidar data. Full and subsetted Data, data readers, and data visualization tools may be downloaded from NSIDC.

GLAS/ICESat 500 m Laser Altimetry Digital Elevation Model of Antarctica

The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) instrument on the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) provides global measurements of elevation, and repeats measurements along nearly-identical tracks; its primary mission is to measure changes in ice volume (mass balance) over time. This digital elevation model (DEM) of Antarctica is derived from GLAS/ICESat laser altimetry profile data and provides new surface elevation grids of the ice sheets and coastal areas, with greater latitudinal extent and fewer slope-related effects than radar altimetry.

This DEM is generated from the first seven operational periods (from February 2003 through June 2005) of the GLAS instrument. It is provided on polar stereographic grids at 500 m grid spacing. The grid covers all of Antarctica north of 86° S. Elevations are reported as centimeters above the datums, relative to both the WGS 84 ellipsoid and the EGM96 geoid, in two separate elevation data files. A data quality map of the interpolation distance is distributed in addition to the elevation data. ENVI header files are also provided.

The data are in 4-byte (long) signed integer binary files (big endian byte order) and are available via FTP.

Choose your best LiDAR filtering method.

NSIDC distributes 15 Level-1 and Level-2 data products from the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) instrument that was aboard the NASA Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation (ICESat) satellite. Launched on 12 January 2003, after seven years in orbit and 18 laser-operations campaigns, the ICESat’s science mission ended due to the failure of its primary instrument.

The main objective of the GLAS instrument was to measure ice sheet elevations and changes in elevation through time. Secondary objectives included measurement of cloud and aerosol height profiles, land elevation and vegetation cover, and sea ice thickness.

To navigate this Web site, use the menu to the left. For news about the latest happenings with ICESat/GLAS data, see the News page. For more information about GLAS data that NSIDC provides, see the Data Sets page which lists individual products that NSIDC distributes. See the Current Release Schedule page for a listing of the most current version of GLAS data available; and for a detailed description of the current data release, see the Description of Current Data Release page.

Read more at: http://nsidc.org/data/icesat/