10.6084/m9.figshare.7314572.v1
Aleksi Räsänen
Aleksi
Räsänen
Sari Juutinen
Sari
Juutinen
Mika Aurela
Mika
Aurela
Tarmo Virtanen
Tarmo
Virtanen
Predicting aboveground biomass in Arctic landscapes using very high spatial resolution satellite imagery and field sampling
Taylor & Francis Group
2018
biomas
Arctic landscapes
field sampling Remote
site-specific regression estimates
resolution satellite imagery
ecosystem change studies
tundra vegetation communities
VHSR satellite images
satellite spectra
non-destructive field measurements
2018-11-08 10:54:37
Dataset
https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Predicting_aboveground_biomass_in_Arctic_landscapes_using_very_high_spatial_resolution_satellite_imagery_and_field_sampling/7314572
<p>Remote sensing based biomass estimates in Arctic areas are usually produced using coarse spatial resolution satellite imagery, which is incapable of capturing the fragmented nature of tundra vegetation communities. We mapped aboveground biomass using field sampling and very high spatial resolution (VHSR) satellite images (QuickBird, WorldView-2 and WorldView-3) in four different Arctic tundra or peatland sites with low vegetation located in Russia, Canada, and Finland. We compared site-specific and cross-site empirical regressions. First, we classified species into plant functional types and estimated biomass using easy, non-destructive field measurements (cover, height). Second, we used the cover/height-based biomass as the response variable and used combinations of single bands and vegetation indices in predicting total biomass. We found that plant functional type biomass could be predicted reasonably well in most cases using cover and height as the explanatory variables (adjusted R<sup>2</sup> 0.21–0.92), and there was considerable variation in the model fit when the total biomass was predicted with satellite spectra (adjusted R<sup>2</sup> 0.33–0.75). There were dissimilarities between cross-site and site-specific regression estimates in satellite spectra based regressions suggesting that the same regression should be used only in areas with similar kinds of vegetation. We discuss the considerable variation in biomass and plant functional type composition within and between different Arctic landscapes and how well this variation can be reproduced using VHSR satellite images. Overall, the usage of VHSR images creates new possibilities but to utilize them to full potential requires similarly more detailed in-situ data related to biomass inventories and other ecosystem change studies and modelling.</p>