Estimation of forest canopy height in mountainous areas using ICESat-GLAS data

Document Type : Research article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Student, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

2 Prof., Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

3 Research Director at IRSTEA, Montpellier, France

4 Forest Expert, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

Abstract

Forest canopy height is an important input variable to derive a set of essential parameters of forest stands, which is yet costly and time consuming when measured based on ground surveys. The satellite-based laser scanner data from ICESat-GLAS provide a 3D representation of gorund objects by measuring the distance from spacecraft to the objects on the earth surface. By means of these data, this study aims to estimate forest canopy height in a portion of mountainous Kheyroud experimental forests in north of Iran. An ICESat-GLAS dataset was analyzed. Several metrics including waveform extent, lead-edge extent and trail-edge extent were extracted from waveform data, and a terrain index was additionally calculated based on a digital elevation model at the location of all laser footprints. Forest canopy height was retrieved by calculating difference between signal begin and ground peak (direct estimation) and regression models (indirect estimation). For fitting the regression, a number of 330 highest trees were measured in 33 circular plots (70 meter diameter) which were collocated with LiDAR footprints. The directly estimated height produced  and RMSE values of 0.56 and 10.32 m, respectively. Compared to this, regression models based on combined waveform metrics and digital elevation model provided better results. Best model fit with lowest AIC= 204.55 was achieved using waveform extent and terrain index variables ( =0.82; RMSE= 6.16m). The ICESat-GLAS therefore concluded to be able to retrieve a relatively accurate estimate of maximum forest canopy height in such steep mountainous area, especially on small scales. Better results are assumed to be achieved using other statistical methods, as well as by an improved waveform processing techniques.

Keywords


- Ahmed, R.U., 2012. Accuracy of biomass and structure estimates from radar and lidar. Open Access Dissertations, 231P.
- Aronoff, S., 2005. Remote sensing for GIS Managers. Esri press, 487p.
- Baghdadi, N., Maire, G., Fayad, I., Bailly, J.S., Nouvellon, Y., Lemos, C. and Hakamada, R., 2014. Testing different methods of forest height and aboveground biomass estimations from ICESat/GLAS data in Eucalyptus plantations in Brazil. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, 7(1): 290-299.
- Blair, J.B., Rabine, D.L. and Hofton, M.A., 1999. The laser vegetation imaging sensor: a medium-altitude, digitization only, airborne laser altimeter for mapping vegetation and topography. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing, 54(2-3): 115-122.
- Brenner, A.G., Zwally, R.J., Bentley, C.R., Csatho, B.M., Harding, D.J., Hofton, M.A., Minster, J.B., Roberts, L., Saba, J.L., Thomas, R.R. and Yi, D., 2003. Derivation of range and range distributions from laser pulse waveform analysis for surface elevations, roughness, slope, and vegetation heights, Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS). Algorithm theoretical basis document, Version 4.1, 92p.
- Burnham, K.P. and Anderson, D.R., 2002. Model selection and multimodel inference: A practical information-theoretic approach. 2nd ed. New York: Springer-Verlag Press, 488p.
- Cairns, M., Barker, J., Shea, R. and Haggerty, P., 1995. Carbon dynamics of Mexican tropical evergreen forests: influence of forestry mitigation options and refinement of carbon-flux estimates. Interciencia, 20(6): 401-408.
- Chen, Q., 2010a. Assessment of terrain elevation derived from satellite laser altimetry over mountainous forest areas using airborne lidar data. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 65(1): 111-122.
- Chen, Q., 2010b. Retrieving vegetation height of forests and woodlands over mountainous areas in the Pacific Coast region using satellite laser altimetry. Remote Sensing of Environment, 114: 1610-1627.
- Duong, V.H., Lindenbergh, R., Pfeifer, N. and Vosselman, G., 2008. Single and two epoch analysis of ICESat full waveform data over. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 29(5): 1453-1473.
- Harding, D.J. and Carabajal, C.C., 2005. ICESat waveform measurements of within-footprint topographic relief and vegetation vertical structure. Geophysical Research Letters, 32(L21S10): 1-4.
- Hilbert, C. and Schmullius, Ch., 2012. Influence of surface topography on ICESat/GLAS forest height estimation and waveform shape. Remote Sensing, 4: 2210-2235.  
- Hese, S., Lucht, W., Schmullius, C., Barnsley, M., Dubayah, R., Knorr, D., Neumann, K., Riedel, T. and Schroter, K., 2005. Global biomass mapping for an improved understanding of the Co2 balance, The Earth observation mission Carbon-3D. Remote Sensing of Environment, 94: 94-104.
- Khorrami, R.A., Darvishsefat, A.A.,Tabari Kochaksaraei, M.and Shataee Jouybari, Sh., 2014. Potential of LIDAR data for estimation of individual tree height of Acer velutinum and Carpinus betulus. Iranian Journal of Forest, 6(2): 127-140 (In Persian).
- Kotchenova, S., Shabanov, N., Knyazikhin, Y., Davis, A., Dubayah, R. and Myneni, R., 2003. Modeling LiDAR waveforms with time-dependent stochastic radiative transfer theory for remote estimations of forest structure. Journal of Geophysical Research, 108(D15): 1-13.
- Lefsky, M.A., Harding, D.J., Keller, M., Cohen, W.B., Carabajal, C.C., Espirito-Santo, F.D., Hunter, M.O., DE Oliveira, R. and DE Camargo, P.B., 2005. Estimates of forest canopy height and aboveground biomass using lCESat. Geophysical Research Letters, 32(22): 1-4.
- Lefsky, M.A., Keller, M., Pang, Y., De Camargo, P.B. and Hunter, M.O., 2007. Revised method for forest canopy height estimation from Geoscience Laser Altimeter System waveform. Journal of Applied Remote Sensing, 1: 1-18.
- Mitchard, E.T.A., Saatchi, S.S., White, L.J.T., Abernethy, K.A., Jeffery, K.J., Lewis, S.L., Collins, M., Lefsky, M.A., Leal, M.E., Woodhouse, I.H. and Meir, P., 2012. Mapping tropical forest biomass with radar and spaceborne LiDAR in Lop´e National Park, Gabon: overcoming problems of high biomass and persistent cloud. Biogeosciences, 9: 179-191.
- Namiranian, M., 2006. Measurement of Tree and Forest Biometry. University of Tehran Press, 574p (In Persian).
- Pang, Y., Lefsky, M., Sun, G., Ellen Miller, M. and Li, Z., 2008. Temperate forest height estimation performance using ICESat GLAS data from different observation periods, The International Archives of the Photogrammetry. Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol. XXXVII, Part B7, 777-782.
- Pflugmacher, D., Cohen, W., Kennedy, R. and Lefsky, M., 2008. Regional applicability of forest height and aboveground biomassModels for the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System. Forest Science, 54(6): 647-657.
- Popescu, S.C., Zhao, K., Neuenschwander, A. and Lin, Ch., 2011. Satellite lidar vs. small footprint airborne lidar: Comparing the accuracy of aboveground biomass estimates and forest structure metrics at footprint level. Remote Sensing of Environment, 115: 2786-2797.
- Rosette, J.A.B., North, P.R.J. and Suarez, J.C., 2008. Vegetation height estimates for a mixed temperate forest using satellite laser altimetry. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 29(5): 1475-1493.
- Sun, G., Ranson, K.J., Kimes, D.S., Blair, J.B. and Kovacs, K., 2008. Forest vertical structure from GLAS: An evaluation using LVIS and SRTM data. Remote Sensing of Environment, 112: 107-117.
- Wang, X., Cheng, X., Gong, P., Huang, H., Li, Zh. and Li, X., 2011. Earth science applications of ICESat/GLAS. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 32(23): 8837-8864.
- Xing, Y., De Gier, A., Zhang, J. and Wang, L., 2010. An improved method for estimating forest canopy height using ICESat-GLAS full waveform data over sloping terrain: A case study in Changbai mountains, China. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 12: 385-392.
- Zobeiry, M., 2004. Forest Inventory (Measurement of Tree and Stands). University of Tehran Press, 401p (In Persian).