Tree Diversity Assessment and Above Ground Forests Biomass Estimation using SAR Remote Sensing: A case study of Higher Altitude Vegetation of North-East Himalayas, India

Publication date: Available online 19 March 2019Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts A/B/CAuthor(s): Amit Kumar, B.S.P.C. Kishore, P. Saikia, J. Deka, S. Bharali, L.B. Singha, O.P. Tripathi, M.L. KhanAbstractForest biomass is one of the significant components for assessing the productivity and sustainability of the forest’s ecosystem. In the present study, the mapping and estimation of above ground biomass (AGB) was performed using field observations employing allometric equations and C band Sentinel 1A and L band Advanced Land Observation System (ALOS) Phased Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) remote sensing satellite images for the parts of north eastern Himalayan forests, Arunachal Pradesh. Total 57 transects of 500 m x 10 m size was laid in West Kameng and Tawang districts (altitude range: 1047 to 4161m) of Arunachal Pradesh, in which a total of 12203 individuals of 67 tree species (Diameter at Breast Height (DBH) range: 3.18 to 235.45 cm) was recorded. The study exhibited higher tree density (428 individuals’ ha-1) and basal cover (7658.63 m2ha-1) in the studied forests. The highest above ground biomass was contributed by Castanopsis indica (103.82 t ha-1) followed by Pinus roxburghii (46.24 t ha-1) and Quercus semicarpifolia (23.14 t ha-1). Further, AGB was estimated using the Horizontal-Horizontal (HH), Horizontal-Vertical (HV) polarizations acquired by the ALOS PALSAR 50 m mosaic (2008) dataset and Vertical-Vertical (VV), Vertical-Horizont...
Source: Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Parts ABC - Category: Science Source Type: research