Developing and testing Airborne LiDAR-Based Sampling Procedures for Regional Forest Biomass and Carbon Estimation On-going and New Initiatives

Transcription

1 Developing and testing Airborne LiDAR-Based Sampling Procedures for Regional Forest Biomass and Carbon Estimation On-going and New Initiatives Erik Næsset Norwegian University of Life Sciences Dept. of Ecology and Natural Resource Management Paul Bolstad University of Minnesota Dept. of Forest Resources Tord Aasland Prevista AS, Norway

2 Light Detection and Ranging A Review Source: TopScan, Germany LiDAR = laser range finder Ground elevations Canopy heights Structural information Leaf area Advantages Percent crown cover Tree stocking density Cost efficient for large areas High spatial resolution (~30 cm) Numerous applications Forest biomass, growth and change detection, carbon exchange Wildlife habitat Disturbance (e.g., pests, blowdowns)

3 Major Objectives LiDAR Research 2. Inventory of forest resources for operational forest management 1. Net primary production and carbon sequestration 3. Regional and national procedures for forest biomass and carbon monitoring

4 Major Objectives LiDAR Research Procedures for resource inventory for improved management 2. Inventory of forest resources for operational forest management 1. Net primary production and carbon sequestration Biomass and carbon assessment in Quebec National Forest Inventory in Norway IREE initiative in MN 3. Regional and national procedures for forest biomass and carbon monitoring

5 Major Objectives LiDAR Research Linking soil organic carbon pools and below-ground carbon Procedures for resource inventory for improved management 2. Inventory of forest resources for operational forest management 1. Net primary production and carbon sequestration Forest resource inventory in Wisconsin Biomass and carbon assessment in Quebec National Forest Inventory in Norway IREE initiative in MN Estimating boreal forest biomass from NASA Icesat LiDAR 3. Regional and national procedures for forest biomass and carbon monitoring Assessing wood quality of forest resources Forest resource inventory in Canada

6 Collaborative Effort in the Great Lakes Region, USA Primary Goal: Estimate biomass and bioenergy feedstocks Secondary Goal: Improve models of forest production and C exchange Funding: Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment (IREE) Proof-of-Concept study Leveraged by NASA, DOE, and NSF support Method: Calibrate/Validate LiDAR data with ground observations Great Lakes Region (Source: NASA) 400 m flux tower (M. Jenson)

7 Collaborative Effort in the Great Lakes Region, USA Progress Field work in progress LiDAR data acquired Started LiDAR data analysis Three students working on the project Collaboration Prof. Bolstad and a grad student visited UMB in August to discuss LiDAR data processing Student exchange UMN grad student planning to go to UMB for a semester if funding is available Great Lakes Region (Source: NASA) 400 m flux tower (M. Jenson)

8 Methods for Operational Forest Inventory in Norway New initiatives Background: Around 15 research projects at UMB since 1995 have proven LiDARbased forest inventory to be more accurate and cost-efficient than conventional forest inventory. Methods are now used operationally in Scandinavia New project established -fundedby theresearchcounciland theforest industry, Objective: Provide more detailed infomation about the timber quality of the forest resources for improved management and increasing the revenue for the forest owners Partnership: UMB, forest industry, Prevista Collaboration: NASA, Helsinki University, University of Joensuu meters Study site (M. 28 Jensen)

9 Industry partners - recent activities in North-America Wisconsin Partnership established between Prevista AS and Univ. of Wisconsin Objective: present and test method for operational forest inventory based on LiDAR Recent activities: Prevista visit to Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison Wisconsin grad students working on LiDAR data acquired over the test field Canada Partnership established (letter of intent) between Prevista and RegeNord - a Canadian forest consultancy firm. Objective is to promote LiDAR as an operational metod in the Canadian market Canadian RegeNord visit to Prevista, supported by the Canadian Embassy in Norway The Canadian Ambassador to Norway visits Prevista meters Study site (M. 28 Jensen)

10 National System for Inventory of Biomass/Carbon Stocks Combining Airborne LiDAR and Field Data Objectives Develop a framework for regional forest volume and biomass/carbon estimation using field data and airborne lasers Compare different sensors (scanning vs profiling laser) Partners UMB NASA Yale University SLU, Sweden Norw. National Forest Inventory Funding agencies Research Council of Norway NASA

11 National System for Inventory of Biomass/Carbon Stocks Combining Airborne LiDAR and Field Data Progress Additional funding provided by NASA for LiDAR data acquisition accomplished by NASA in July 2006 PhD fellowship allocated by UMB Student exchange Post grad will visit Goddard Space Flight Center in 2006/7 Grad student likely to spend a semester at UMN or NASA

12 Linking Soil Organic Carbon Pools and LiDAR Remote Sensing of Above-Ground Biomass in Boreal Forest Ecosystems Background The boreal forest accounts for 23% of global terrestrial carbon stocks Most of this carbon is found below ground Objective Analyze the relationship between soil organic carbon and aboveground biomass as expressed by tree structure depicted by highresolution LiDAR Funding PhD fellowship allocated by UMB in 2006 Student exchange UMB grad student to visit UMN for 1-2 semesters in 2007/8

13 Estimating Boreal Forest Biomass from NASA Icesat Spaceborne LiDAR Background: ICESat (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite) is a scientific mission for measuring ice sheet mass balance, cloud and aerosol heights, as well as land topography and vegetation characteristics Objective: Can this satellite-based LiDAR be used to extract information about biomass of northern terrestrial vegetation? Boreal test site: Aurskog, southern Norway Funding: PhD fellowship granted by the Research Council Partnership: UMB and NASA Student exchange: Grad student will visit NASA/GSFC in 2007/8

14 Tree migration in the boreal/alpine and boreal/tundra transitions zones Background: The alpine and arctic tree-lines will be affected by global warming Objectives Can LiDAR detect small trees in the forest/alpine transition zone? Establish a baseline to monitor future tree migration on a circum-polar scale Partnership UMB and NASA