@article{fdi:010055859,
  title = {{A}ssessing aboveground tropical forest biomass using {G}oogle {E}arth canopy images},
  author = {{P}loton, {P}ierre and {P}{\'e}lissier, {R}apha{\¨e}l and {P}roisy, {C}hristophe and {F}lavenot, {T}. and {B}arbier, {N}icolas and {R}ai, {S}. {N}. and {C}outeron, {P}ierre},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{R}educing {E}missions from {D}eforestation and {F}orest {D}egradation ({REDD}) in efforts to combat climate change requires participating countries to periodically assess their forest resources on a national scale. {S}uch a process is particularly challenging in the tropics because of technical difficulties related to large aboveground forest biomass stocks, restricted availability of affordable, appropriate remote-sensing images, and a lack of accurate forest inventory data. {I}n this paper, we apply the {F}ourier-based {FOTO} method of canopy texture analysis to {G}oogle {E}arth's very-high-resolution images of the wet evergreen forests in the {W}estern {G}hats of {I}ndia in order to (1) assess the predictive power of the method on aboveground biomass of tropical forests, (2) test the merits of free {G}oogle {E}arth images relative to their native commercial {IKONOS} counterparts and (3) highlight further research needs for affordable, accurate regional aboveground biomass estimations. {W}e used the {FOTO} method to ordinate {F}ourier spectra of 1436 square canopy images (1253125 m) with respect to a canopy grain texture gradient (i.e., a combination of size distribution and spatial pattern of tree crowns), benchmarked against virtual canopy scenes simulated from a set of known forest structure parameters and a 3-{D} light interception model. {W}e then used 15 1-ha ground plots to demonstrate that both texture gradients provided by {G}oogle {E}arth and {IKONOS} images strongly correlated with field-observed stand structure parameters such as the density of large trees, total basal area, and aboveground biomass estimated from a regional allometric model. {O}ur results highlight the great potential of the {FOTO} method applied to {G}oogle {E}arth data for biomass retrieval because the texture-biomass relationship is only subject to 15% relative error, on average, and does not show obvious saturation trends at large biomass values. {W}e also provide the first reliable map of tropical forest aboveground biomass predicted from free {G}oogle {E}arth images.},
  keywords = {aboveground biomass ; canopy texture ; forest structure ; {F}ourier spectra ; {G}oogle {E}arth ; tree biomass allometry ; very-high-resolution images ; {W}estern {G}hats of {I}ndia},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{E}cological {A}pplications},
  volume = {22},
  numero = {3},
  pages = {993--1003},
  ISSN = {1051-0761},
  year = {2012},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010055859},
}