Coverage of high biomass forests by the ESA BIOMASS mission under defense restrictions

REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT

卷:196

Article

Carreiras, Joao M. B.¹  Shaun Quegan¹  Thuy Le Toan²  Dinh Ho Tong Minh³  Saatchi, Sassan S.⁴  Carvalhais, Nuno^5,6  Reichstein, Markus⁵  Scipal, Klaus⁷ 

[1] Univ Sheffield, Natl Ctr Earth Observat, Sheffield S3 7RH, S Yorkshire, England

[2] Univ Paul Sabatier, CNRS, CNES, Ctr Etud Spatiales Biosphere CESBIO, F-31401 Toulouse, France

[3] Inst Natl Rech Sci & Technol Environm & Agr, IRSTEA, UMR TETIS, F-34000 Montpellier, France

[4] CALTECH, Jet Prop Lab, NASA, Pasadena, CA 91109 USA

[5] Max Planck Inst Biogeochem, Dept Biogeochem Integrat, D-07745 Jena, Germany

[6] Univ Nova Lisboa, Fac Ciencias & Tecnol, Dept Ciancias & Engn Ambiente, CENSE, P-2829516 Caparica, Portugal

[7] ESA ESTEC, NL-2201 AZ Noordwijk, Netherlands

关键词: European Space Agency;    BIOMASS mission;    Space Objects Tracking Radar (SOTR);    Forest coverage;    Forest above ground biomass;    Global carbon cycle modelling;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.rse.2017.05.003

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

The magnitude of the global terrestrial carbon pool and related fluxes to and from the atmosphere are still poorly known. The European Space Agency P-band radar BIOMASS mission will help to reduce this uncertainty by providing unprecedented information on the distribution of forest above-ground biomass (AGB), particularly in the tropics where the gaps are greatest and knowledge is most needed. Mission selection was made in full knowledge of coverage restrictions over Europe, North and Central America imposed by the US Department of Defense Space Objects Tracking Radar (SOTR) stations. Under these restrictions, only 3% of AGB carbon stock coverage is lost in the tropical forest biome, with this biome representing 66% of global AGB carbon stocks in 2005. The loss is more significant in the temperate (72%), boreal (37%) and subtropical (29%) biomes, with these accounting for approximately 12%, 15% and 7%, respectively, of the global forest AGB carbon stocks. In terms of global carbon cycle modelling, there is minimal impact in areas of high AGB density, since mainly lower biomass forests in cooler climates are affected. In addition, most areas affected by the SOTR stations are located in industrialized countries with well-developed national forest inventories, so that extensive information on AGB is already available. Hence the main scientific objectives of the BIOMASS mission are not seriously compromised. Furthermore, several space sensors that can estimate AGB in lower biomass forests are in orbit or planned for launch between now and the launch of BIOMASS in 2021, which will help to fill the gaps in mission coverage. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc.

【 授权许可】

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