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ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Range Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #259811
Title: Precision of LVIS and MISR canopy height estimates for desert grassland shrub canopies assessed with field and UAV estimates in multiscale approach

Author
item CHOPPING, MARK - Montclair State University
item ASLAN, ASLAN - Montclair State University
item HOFTON, MICHELLE - University Of Maryland
item BLAIR, JAMES - Goddard Space Flight Center
item LALIBERTE, ANDREA - New Mexico State University
item Rango, Albert

Submitted to: IEEE IGARSS Annual Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/15/2010
Publication Date: 7/25/2010
Citation: Chopping, M., Aslan, A., Hofton, M., Blair, J., Laliberte, A.S., Rango, A. 2010. Precision of LVIS and MISR canopy height estimates for desert grassland shrub canopies assessed with field and UAV estimates in multiscale approach [abstract]. 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Geoscience and Remote Sensing. July 25-30, 2010, Honolulu, Hawaii. TUP2.PM.7.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Many science questions in large-scale terrestrial ecology are concerned with changes in the Earth’s carbon cycle and ecosystems and the consequences for the Earth's carbon budget, ecosystem sustainability, and biodiversity [1]. To address these questions, we must know the distribution of aboveground woody carbon stocks; how much, where, and why woody carbon stocks are changing; and what proportion of the annual net flux to/from land is the result of disturbance and recovery [2]. These questions can be addressed using measures of forest canopy physical structure (horizontal and vertical distributions) through the synergistic use of data from lidar and radar remote sensing instruments [3]. Although satellite systems with global observing capability are at least eight years away [4] many studies are being conducted to assess the capabilities and limitations of these technologies. It is known that full waveform lidar can provide good estimates of various canopy parameters, including height, in mediumdensity temperate forests, while performance in dense tropical and boreal forest and in shrub canopies is less well-defined. While savannas and grasslands with shrubs are low biomass environments, they are extensive, occupying around 40% of the terrestrial land area. The goal of the research described here was thus to determine the performance of the NASA Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS) in estimating canopy height and aboveground standing live woody biomass in desert grasslands in southern New Mexico, USA, a region in which shrubs have mostly displaced native grasslands over the last 120 years.