Scaling and sampling dependencies of forest canopy height mapping towards jurisdictional biomass reporting using airborne LiDAR and small-area estimation.

ABSTRACT: Consolidated airborne laser scanning (ALS) programs, satellite imagery and spaceborne structural measurements have enabled major advances in canopy height mapping that translate towards the forest carbon biomass arena. However, we must carefully evaluate the cost of using fine-grained canopy height products to predict biomass under calibration models scoped at the scale of inventory plots. In this study, we estimated biomass using field plots and ALS metrics before predicting biomass over a jurisdiction of ~ 15,500 km² in Spain using 10 m, 25 m, 44 m, and 100 m as prediction scales. We altered the scale of ALS-based biomass predictors in 10 sub-jurisdictions intensively surveyed by the Spanish National Forest Inventory (NFI) before estimating mean and total biomass using three o

SUBMITTER: Guerra-Hernandez J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12797554 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature