A comparative analysis of extended water cloud model and backscatter modelling for above-ground biomass assessment in Corbett Tiger Reserve

Abstract

Forest biomass acts as a backbone in regulating the climate by storing carbon within itself. Thus the assessment of forest biomass is crucial in understanding the dynamics of the environment. Traditionally the destructive methods were adopted for the assessment of biomass which were further advanced to the non-destructive methods. The allometric equations developed by destructive methods were further used in non-destructive methods for the assessment, but they were mostly applied for woody/commercial timber species. However now days Remote Sensing data are primarily used for the biomass geospatial pattern assessment. The Optical Remote Sensing data (Landsat8, LISS III, etc.) are being used very successfully for the estimation of above ground biomass (AGB). However optical data is not suitable for all atmospheric/environmental conditions, because it can’t penetrate through clouds and haze. Thus Radar data is one of the alternate possible ways to acquire data in all-weather conditions irrespective of weather and light. The paper examines the potential of ALOS PALSAR L-band dual polarisation data for the estimation of AGB in the Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) covering an area of 889 km2. The main focus of this study is to explore the accuracy of Polarimetric Scattering Model (Extended Water Cloud Model (EWCM) with respect to Backscatter model in the assessment of AGB. The parameters of the EWCM were estimated using the decomposition components (Raney Decomposition) and the plot level information. The above ground biomass in the CTR ranges from 9.6 t/ha to 322.6 t/ha.