Carbon Monitoring System: Biomass and forest attribute mapping for stakeholders across the western U.S.

Abstract

Calculating aboveground biomass in forests and woodlands from forest inventory plot measurements, LiDAR, aerial photography, or satellite imagery alone will not yield accurate estimates because each of these datasets have limitations in spatial coverage, temporal frequency, data collection methods or lack of quantifiable measurements. However, these datasets have been combined to create predictive models to produce biomass estimates mapped at 30m resolution that were subsequently calibrated with FIA plot data across the study region and are therefore unbiased.

Purpose

This project, funded by the NASA Carbon Monitoring Systems program, leverages the respective strengths of these datasets to estimate forest and woodland biomass for the Pacific Northwest, Inland Northwest, and Great Basin. This work promises to be a valuable resource to support both the 2012 Forest Service Planning Rule and the U.S. Forest Service’s Shared Stewardship Initiative’s objectives.

Overview and Applicability

The 2012 Forest Service Planning rule requires that National Forests incorporate mitigation and adaptation strategies in response to climate change into their forest management plans. An underlying foundation of this work is knowing the distribution of aboveground biomass across the landscape. These annual maps for the Pacific Northwest, Inland Northwest, and Great Basin, which span the years 2000-2016, will be useful for developing carbon budgets for forests and rangelands, such as identifying areas needing fuel treatments to reduce wildfire risk. Other biomass maps exist, but none leverage airborne lidar to the same degree; lidar is the remote sensing technology preferred by managers.

Inputs

Project-level forest inventory plot data contributed by public and private stakeholders, LiDAR, aerial photography, Landsat satellite image time series, climate metrics, topographic metrics.

Outputs

Annual aboveground biomass estimates mapped at 30m resolution for forests across the Pacific and Inland Northwest and for pinyon-juniper woodlands across the Great Basin, from 2000-2016.

Requirements

Ability to download, display and use GeoTiff files. ArcGIS software is sufficient.

Citation

Hudak, A.T., P.A. Fekety, V.R. Kane, R.E. Kennedy, S.K. Filippelli, M.J. Falkowski, W.T. Tinkham, A.M.S. Smith, N.L. Crookston, G. Domke, M.V. Corrao, B.C. Bright, D.J. Churchill, P.J. Gould, Jonathan T. Kane, R.J. McGaughey and J. Dong. Accepted. A carbon monitoring system for mapping regional, annual aboveground biomass across the northwestern USA. Environmental Research Letters.

Documentation

Fekety, P.A., A.T. Hudak and B.C. Bright. (2020) Tree and stand attributes for "A carbon monitoring system for mapping regional, annual aboveground biomass across the northwestern USA". Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2020-0026

Fekety, P.A. and A.T. Hudak. (2020) LiDAR-derived forest aboveground biomass maps, northwestern USA, 2002-2016. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1766

Filippelli, S.K., M.J. Falkowski, A.T. Hudak and P.A. Fekety. (2020) CMS: Pinyon-juniper forest live aboveground biomass, Great Basin, USA, 2000-2016. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1755

Fekety, P.A. and A.T. Hudak. (2019) Annual aboveground biomass maps for forests in the northwestern USA, 2000-2016. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/1719

Links

Forest biomass across the Pacific and Inland Northwest
Pinyon-juniper woodland biomass across the Great Basin
CMS Datasets (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
CMS Datasets (Goddard Space Flight Center)