Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Estimating Live Forest Carbon Dynamics With A Landsat-Based Curve-Fitting Approach, David O. Wallin, Todd A. Schroeder, Andrew N. Gray, Mark E. Harmon, Warren B. Cohen

Environmental Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Direct estimation of aboveground biomass with spectral reflectance data has proven challenging for high biomass forests of the Pacific Northwestern United States. We present an alternative modeling strategy which uses Landsat’s spatial, spectral and temporal characteristics to predict live forest carbon through integration of stand age and site index maps and locally calibrated Chapman-Richards curves. Predictions from the curve-fit model were evaluated at the local and landscape scales using two periods of field inventory data. At the pixel-level, the curve-fit model had large positive bias statistics and at the landscape scale over-predicted study area carbon for both inventory periods. Despite …