Global biomass and C flux maps and syntheses: how good are they and how much will BIOMASS improve them? (1)
2015-01-27 13:30 - 2015-01-27 14:50
Chairs: Sassan Saatchi, JPL / Andreas Langner, JRC
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13:30 An intercomparison of pantropical biomass maps
Mitchard, Edward TA University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
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There have been two widely-cited and used pantropical maps of aboveground biomass published in recent years, by Sassan Saatchi et al. (2011, PNAS) and Alessandro Baccini et al. (2012, Nature Climate Change). Additionally many regional maps have been published using higher resolution data, for example for portions of Peru and Colombia (Greg Asner et al.), the whole of Cameroon (Stephane Mermoz et al.) and portions of Mozambique (Casey Ryan et al.). Here I compare and contrast these maps, both in terms of methodology and results. In particular I note the significant differences between them in many locations, showing that the biggest absolute differences are in the main tropical forest areas (central Amazonia, western Congo basis, Papua New Guinea), and the biggest proportional differences are in savanna areas in southern and eastern Africa. I attempt to explain these errors in terms of differences in methodology, input datasets and allometries. Developing this theme further, I then examine the pantropical maps in more detail over the Amazon forests, an area that has been subject to extensive field ecological studies. In conjunction with the RAINFOR and TEAM plot networks I present the results of a comparison of 414 large field plots to both maps, in an attempt to assess their accuracy in terms of broad spatial patterns, and to better understand the differences between them. The results of these show a clear message, of distinct relevance to the BIOMASS mission: much of the errors and uncertainties relate to wood specific gravity (wood density), which varies significantly both on a stem-by-stem and landscape level. There are many lessons that can be learnt from this inter-comparison of datasets: in particular it is clear that large field inventory plots, maps of forest type, and careful work on regional differences in allometry, will all be necessary to produce well constrained biomass estimates from BIOMASS.
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13:50 Satellite-based estimates of tropical biomass change 2002-2012
Baccini, Alessandro; Houghton, Richard Woods Hole Research Center, United Kingdom
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TBC
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14:10 Plenary Discussion - BIOMASS
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Plenary Discussion - BIOMASS
In May 2013, the Biomass mission concept was selected to become the next in the series of satellites developed to further our understanding of Earth.
REPLAY EARTH EXPLORER 7 USER CONSULTATION MEETING (PART 1)
POLinSAR 2013 Workshop