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LiDAR-based reference aboveground biomass maps for tropical forests of South Asia and Central Africa

2024; Nature Portfolio; Volume: 11; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1038/s41597-024-03162-x

2052-4463

Suraj Reddy Rodda, Rakesh Fararoda, Rajashekar Gopalakrishnan, Nidhi Jha, Maxime Réjou‐Méchain, Pierre Couteron, Nicolas Barbier, Alfonso Alonso, Ousmane Bako, Patrick Bassama, Debabrata Behera, Pulchérie Bissiengou, Hervé Biyiha, Warren Y. Brockelman, Wirong Chanthorn, Prakash Chauhan, V. K. Dadhwal, Gilles Dauby, Vincent Deblauwe, Narcis Dongmo, Vincent Droissart, S. Jeyakumar, Chandra Shekar Jha, Narcisse G. Kandem, John Katembo Mukirania, Ronald Kougue, H. Leblanc, Simon L. Lewis, Moses Libalah, M Manikandan, Olivier Martin‐Ducup, Germain Mbock, Hervé Memiaghe, Gislain II Mofack, Praveen Mutyala, Narayanan Ayyappan, Anuttara Nathalang, Gilbert Oum Ndjock, F. Ngoula, ‪Rama Rao Nidamanuri, Raphaël Pélissier, Sassan Saatchi, Le Bienfaiteur Sagang, Patrick Salla, Murielle Simo‐Droissart, Thomas B. Smith, Bonaventure Sonké, Tariq Stévart, Danièle Tjomb, Donatien Zébazé, Lise Zemagho, Pierre Ploton,

Forest Ecology and Biodiversity Studies

Abstract Accurate mapping and monitoring of tropical forests aboveground biomass (AGB) is crucial to design effective carbon emission reduction strategies and improving our understanding of Earth’s carbon cycle. However, existing large-scale maps of tropical forest AGB generated through combinations of Earth Observation (EO) and forest inventory data show markedly divergent estimates, even after accounting for reported uncertainties. To address this, a network of high-quality reference data is needed to calibrate and validate mapping algorithms. This study aims to generate reference AGB datasets using field inventory plots and airborne LiDAR data for eight sites in Central Africa and five sites in South Asia, two regions largely underrepresented in global reference AGB datasets. The study provides access to these reference AGB maps, including uncertainty maps, at 100 m and 40 m spatial resolutions covering a total LiDAR footprint of 1,11,650 ha [ranging from 150 to 40,000 ha at site level]. These maps serve as calibration/validation datasets to improve the accuracy and reliability of AGB mapping for current and upcoming EO missions (viz., GEDI, BIOMASS, and NISAR).