Tackling high biomass in tropical forests through the BIOMASS mission

Abstract

To improve our understanding of the carbon cycle, precise estimates of forest biomass are needed. High values of dense tropical forest biomass are particularly important, as they determine uncertainties in carbon stock assessment and carbon loss due to deforestation and forest degradation. However, estimating Above Ground Biomass (AGB) of tropical forests based on remote sensing systems remains challenging, most existing satellite systems are not sensitive to AGB in the high range. In this paper, we assess the use of P-band SAR tomography technique to provide AGB with reduced uncertainties in the range of 200–400 Mg.ha−1. We present the expected contribution of the BIOMASS mission in estimating the carbon loss from deforestation and from forest degradation , and in providing the Digital Elevation Model under dense forests.