A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

TerraSAR-X Stereo Radargrammetry and Airborne Scanning LiDAR Height Metrics in Imputation of Forest Aboveground Biomass and Stem Volume




AuthorsVastaranta, Mikko; Holopainen, Markus; Karjalainen, Mika; Kankare, Ville; Hyyppä, Juha; Kaasalainen, Sanna

PublisherIEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC

Publishing placePISCATAWAY

Publication year2014

JournalIEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing

Journal name in sourceIEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING

Journal acronymIEEE T GEOSCI REMOTE

Volume52

Issue2

First page 1197

Last page1204

Number of pages8

ISSN0196-2892

eISSN1558-0644

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2013.2248370


Abstract
Our objective is to evaluate the boreal forest aboveground biomass (AGB) and stem volume (VOL) imputation accuracy when scanning LiDAR or TerraSAR-X stereo radargrammetry-derived point-height metrics are used as predictors in the nearest neighbor imputation approach. Treewise measured field plots are used as reference data in the AGB and VOL imputations and accuracy evaluations. The digital terrain model (DTM) that is produced by the National Land Survey of Finland is used to obtain aboveground elevation values for the TerraSAR-X stereo radargrammetry. The DTM that is used (i.e., grid size 2 m) is derived from LiDAR surveys with an average point density of similar to 0.5 points/m(2). The respective DTM and point data are used in LiDAR imputations of AGB and VOL. The relative root mean square errors (RMSEs) for AGB and VOL are 29.9% (41.3 t/ha) and 30.2% (78.1 m(3)/ha) when using TerraSAR-X stereo radargrammetry metrics. The respective LiDAR estimation accuracy values are 21.9% (32.3 t/ha) and 24.8% (64.2 m(3)/ha). LiDAR imputations are clearly more accurate than imputations that are made by using TerraSAR-X stereo radargrammetry metrics. However, the difference between imputation accuracies of LiDAR- and TerraSAR X-based features are smaller than in any previous study in which LiDAR and different types of synthetic aperture radar materials are compared in the variable predictions regarding forests. We conclude that TerraSAR X stereo radargrammetry is a promising remote-sensing technique for large forest-area AGB and VOL mapping and monitoring when an accurate LiDAR-based DTM is available.



Last updated on 2025-27-01 at 19:38