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Scientia Silvae Sinicae ›› 2026, Vol. 62 ›› Issue (3): 74-87.doi: 10.11707/j.1001-7488.LYKX20250054

• Research papers • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Estimation of Forest Aboveground Biomass Using Joint Spaceborne-UAV LiDAR and Sentinel-2 Data

Sheng Zhou,Fugen Jiang,Shuai Chen,Yi Long,Binbin Wang,Zige Song,Hua Sun*()   

  1. Research Center of Forestry Remote Sensing & Information Engineering, Central South University of Forestry & Technology Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Forestry Remote Sensing Based Big Data & Ecological Security Key Laboratory of National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Forest Resources Management and Monitoring in Southern China Changsha 410004
  • Received:2025-02-05 Revised:2025-04-19 Online:2026-03-15 Published:2026-03-12
  • Contact: Hua Sun E-mail:sunhua@csuft.edu.cn

Abstract:

Objective: This study aims to explore the adaptability of the joint retrieval of regional forest aboveground biomass (AGB) by the new generation of ice, cloud, and land elevation satellite (ICESat-2), airborne LiDAR and Sentinel-2 multi-source data, providing scientific basis for large-scale forest resource management and dynamic monitoring. Method: Wangyedian Forest Farm in Chifeng City was selected as the research area, and a high-precision AGB estimation model was established based on airborne LiDAR data and sample plot measured data. The AGB of the sample plot was extended from discrete “points” to “surface” data on a large regional scale to overcome the problem of difficulty in matching sample points with spaceborne points. On this basis, ICESat-2 and Sentinel-2 remote sensing data were combined for AGB inversion, and the optimal variable combination and optimal inversion model were finally selected to draw the spatial distribution map of forest AGB in the study area. Result: 1) The three-dimensional structural information extracted from airborne LiDAR was highly correlated with forest AGB, and the inversion results of the random forest model had the highest accuracy with r of 0.91, root mean squared error (RMSE) of 17.00 t·hm?2, and estimation accuracy (EA) of 88.90%. 2) After combining the ICESat-2 and Sentinel-2 variables, the accuracy of the inversion model was further improved (R2=0.74, RMSE=27.44 t·hm?2, EA=69.32%), with R2 and EA increasing by 30.26% and 14.18%, respectively. 3) The spatial distribution results of forest AGB in the study area showed that the forest AGB in the southeast was relatively low (with an average of 97.13 t·hm?2), while that in the mid-east and northeast was relatively high (with an average of 117.03 t·hm?2), which was consistent with the actual distribution. Conclusion: The AGB inverted from airborne LiDAR data has high accuracy, which can be used as an intermediate parameter to connect measured data and satellite data. Combining airborne LiDAR, Sentinel-2 and ICESat-2 data can not only further improve the estimation accuracy of forest AGB, but also provide a new reference for large-scale forest resource management and dynamic detection in the future.

Key words: forest aboveground biomass, machine learning, ICESat-2, UAV-LiDAR, Sentinel-2

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