The Forest Observation System, building a global reference dataset for remote sensing of forest biomass.
Dmitry G SchepaschenkoJerome ChaveOliver L PhillipsSimon L LewisStuart J DaviesMaxime Réjou-MéchainPlinio SistKlaus ScipalChristoph PergerBruno HéraultNicolas LabrièreFlorian HofhanslKofi Affum-BaffoeAlexei AleinikovAlfonso AlonsoChristian AmaniAlejandro Araujo-MurakamiJohn ArmstonLuzmila ArroyoNataly AscarrunzCelso AzevedoTimothy BakerRadomir BałazyCaroline BedeauNicholas BerryAndrii M BilousSvitlana Yu BilousPulchérie BissiengouLilian BlancKapitolina S BobkovaTatyana BraslavskayaRoel J W BrienenDavid F R P BurslemRichard ConditAida Cuni-SanchezDilshad DanilinaDennis Del Castillo TorresGéraldine DerroireLaurent DescroixEleneide Doff SottaMarcus V N d'OliveiraChristopher DreselTerry ErwinMikhail D EvdokimenkoJan FalckTed R FeldpauschErnest G FoliRobin FosterSteffen FritzAntonio Damian Garcia-AbrilAleksey GornovMaria GornovaErnest Gothard-BassébéSylvie Gourlet-FleuryMarcelino GuedesKeith C HamerFarida Herry SusantyNiro HiguchiEurídice N Honorio CoronadoWannes HubauStephen HubbellUlrik IlstedtViktor V IvanovMilton KanashiroAnders KarlssonViktor N KarminovTimothy KilleenJean-Claude Konan KoffiMaria KonovalovaFlorian KraxnerJan KrejzaHaruni KrisnawatiLeonid V KrivobokovMikhail A KuznetsovIvan LakydaPetro I LakydaJuan Carlos LiconaRichard M LucasNatalia LukinaDaniel LussettiYadvinder MalhiJosé Antonio ManzaneraBeatriz MarimonBen Hur Marimon JuniorRodolfo Vasquez MartinezOlga V MartynenkoMaksym MatsalaRaisa K MatyashukLucas MazzeiHervé MemiagheCasimiro MendozaAbel Monteagudo MendozaOlga V MoroziukLiudmila MukhortovaSamsudin MusaDina I NazimovaToshinori OkudaLuis Claudio OliveiraPetr V OntikovAndrey F OsipovStephan PietschMaureen PlayfairJohn PoulsenVladimir G RadchenkoKenneth RodneyAndes Hamuraby RozakAdemir RuschelErvan RutishauserLinda SeeMaria ShchepashchenkoNikolay ShevchenkoAnatoly ShvidenkoMarcos SilveiraJames SinghBonaventure SonkéCintia SouzaKrzysztof J StereńczakLeonid StonozhenkoMartin J P SullivanJustyna SzatniewskaHermann TaedoumgHans Ter SteegeElena TikhonovaMarisol ToledoOlga V TrefilovaRuben ValbuenaLuis Valenzuela GamarraSergey VasilievEstella F VedrovaSergey V VerhovetsEdson VidalNadezhda A VladimirovaJason VleminckxVincent Antoine VosFoma K VozmitelWolfgang WanekThales A P WestHannsjorg WoellJohn T WoodsVerginia WortelToshihiro YamadaZamah Shari Nur HajarIrié Casimir Zo-BiPublished in: Scientific data (2019)
Forest biomass is an essential indicator for monitoring the Earth's ecosystems and climate. It is a critical input to greenhouse gas accounting, estimation of carbon losses and forest degradation, assessment of renewable energy potential, and for developing climate change mitigation policies such as REDD+, among others. Wall-to-wall mapping of aboveground biomass (AGB) is now possible with satellite remote sensing (RS). However, RS methods require extant, up-to-date, reliable, representative and comparable in situ data for calibration and validation. Here, we present the Forest Observation System (FOS) initiative, an international cooperation to establish and maintain a global in situ forest biomass database. AGB and canopy height estimates with their associated uncertainties are derived at a 0.25 ha scale from field measurements made in permanent research plots across the world's forests. All plot estimates are geolocated and have a size that allows for direct comparison with many RS measurements. The FOS offers the potential to improve the accuracy of RS-based biomass products while developing new synergies between the RS and ground-based ecosystem research communities.