Estimation of above-ground biomass and delineation of vegetation of tropical forests using EOS-04 data.

The C-band SAR on-board EOS-04 mission provides unique opportunities to characterize forest vegetation through its sensitiveness to vegetation structure and allweather imaging capability over regions of perpetual cloud cover. The present study has brought out the applications of EOS-04 data for estimation of aboveground biomass (AGB) of tropical deciduous forests and scrublands, mapping of forest cover and delineation of mangroves vegetation. The study suggested that EOS04 data can be used for mapping AGB of tropical scrublands and low density forests of AGB ≤ 80 t/ha. The overall RMSE for all vegetation with AGB ≤ 80 t/ha was 15.3 t/ha (R² – 0.49). It was shown that the integration of EOS-04 and Sentinel-2 data improved AGB estimates across biomass ranges of 0–245 t/ha (RMSE – 21.60 t/ha and 0.81). EOS-04 data was also found to be useful for the delineation of mangroves and forest vegetation using machine-learning algorithms. The study supports operational use of EOS-04 data for estimation of AGB over low biomass tropical forests and scrublands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]