Conference Agenda
Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).
|
Daily Overview |
| Session | |
|
Biomass First Results III Location: Red Hall Session Chair: Clément Albinet, European Space Agency / Agence Spatiale Européenne Session Chair: Dinh Ho Tong Minh, INRAE | |
    | |
9:40am - 10:00am
First results from the ESA BIOMASS L1B IOC data in Brazilian Forests GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences, Germany ESA BIOMASS mission, operating in orbit since April 2025, is designed to provide near global estimates of forest biomass, structure and change. In this study, we present a first evaluation of the ESA BIOMASS mission Level-1B In-Orbit Commissioning (IOC) data over Brazilian forests covering a wide range of biomass, from dense tropical forests to savannas. We compared BIOMASS amplitude data with independent reference data from the Brazilian National Forest Inventory (NFI) and INPE Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) data. Furthermore, we superimposed BIOMASS data with a secondary forest age product, to determine if there was a relationship between BIOMASS signal and forest age. Although the L1B IOC data are not yet radiometrically or polarimetrically calibrated, the results show promising relationships between the BIOMASS amplitude and key forest structural parameters (aboveground biomass and canopy height) as well as forest age. As expected, the strongest correlations with forest structure were observed at cross-polarizations (HV and VH). Moreover, the cross-polarized P-band signal exhibits a strong relationship with the estimated age of secondary forests. Finally, the uncalibrated BIOMASS data shows stronger correlations with forest structure and age than the L-band SAR data, from ALOS-2 PALSAR-2, highlighting an enhanced sensitivity of the long wavelength P-band signal with high biomass forests (>300 t/ha). It is to expect that radiometric and polarimetric calibration as well as terrain normalization of the BIOMASS data will further improve the correlations with forest structural parameters. In addition, a significant improvement in sensitivity to high biomass forests is anticipated from the BIOMASS ground-notched data, which exclude ground contribution from the P-band signal. In summary, this study shows promising results from the early ESA BIOMASS L1B IOC amplitude data to advance global forest mapping from space and meet mission’s scientific requirements. This work was conducted under ESA BIOMASS DISC as part of the BIOMASS In-Orbit Commissioning Programme. | |
