Biomass Estimation Based on the Fusion of ICESat GLAS and MODIS Data in the Chongming Eastern Tidal Flat of the Yangtze River

Mapping of vegetation´s type, structure parameters and biomass are critical for understanding the vegetation´s significance in the carbon cycle, its response to an impact on regional ecological change. In this paper, we describe a new systematic methodology to measure vegetation height and aboveground biomass by remote sensing. For the entire study area, GLAS footprints were overlaid with MODIS land cover classes. The study area was stratified into homogeneous physiographic strata based on the MODIS cover vegetation types. Sparse ICESat data are first combined with MODIS-derived land cover information to provide contextual information for each observation, and to provide appropriate estimates of vegetation structure at 1° resolution. Next, assess their relationship with known biophysical attributes. The results of predicted aboveground biomass were in agreement on the amount and distribution after comparison with reference data, which showed that the predict model for GLAS successfully captured the change of aboveground biomass.