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Title: The NASA AfriSAR Campaign: Airborne SAR and Lidar Measurements of Tropical Forest Structure and Biomass in Support of Future Space Missions
  • +28
  • Temilola Fatoyinbo,
  • John Armston,
  • Marc Simard,
  • Sassan Saatchi,
  • Michael Denbina,
  • Marco Lavalle,
  • Michelle Hofton,
  • Hao Tang,
  • Suzanne Marselis,
  • Naiara Pinto,
  • Steven Hancock,
  • Brian Hawkins,
  • Laura Duncanson,
  • Bryan Blair,
  • Christy Hansen,
  • Yunling Lou,
  • Ralph Dubayah,
  • Scott Hensley,
  • Carlos Silva,
  • John R Poulsen,
  • Nicolas Labrière,
  • Nicolas Barbier,
  • Kathryn Jeffery,
  • David Kenfack,
  • Herve Memiaghe,
  • Pulcherie Bissiengou,
  • Alfonso Alonso,
  • Ghislain Moussavou,
  • Lee White,
  • Simon Lewis,
  • Kathleen Hibbard
Temilola Fatoyinbo
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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John Armston
University of Maryland
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Marc Simard
California Institute of Technology/ NASA Jet Propulsion Lab
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Sassan Saatchi
California Institute of Technology/ NASA Jet Propulsion Lab
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Michael Denbina
California Institute of Technology/ NASA Jet Propulsion Lab
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Marco Lavalle
California Institute of Technology/ NASA Jet Propulsion Lab
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Michelle Hofton
University of Maryland
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Hao Tang
University of Maryland
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Suzanne Marselis
University of Maryland
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Naiara Pinto
California Institute of Technology/NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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Steven Hancock
University of Maryland
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Brian Hawkins
California Institute of Technology/ NASA Jet Propulsion Lab
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Laura Duncanson
University of Maryland
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Bryan Blair
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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Christy Hansen
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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Yunling Lou
California Institute of Technology
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Ralph Dubayah
University of Maryland
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Scott Hensley
California Institute of Technology
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Carlos Silva
University of Florida, Gainesville
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John R Poulsen
Nicholas School of the Environment
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Nicolas Labrière
Laboratoire Évolution et Diversité Biologique, UMR 5174 (CNRS/IRD/UPS)
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Nicolas Barbier
AMAP, IRD, CNRS, INRA, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD
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Kathryn Jeffery
University of Stirling
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David Kenfack
Smithsonian Institution
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Herve Memiaghe
CENAREST
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Pulcherie Bissiengou
CENAREST
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Alfonso Alonso
Smithsonian Institution
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Ghislain Moussavou
AGEOS
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Lee White
ANPN
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Simon Lewis
University College London
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Kathleen Hibbard
NASA Headquarters
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Abstract

In 2015 and 2016, the AfriSAR campaign was carried out as a collaborative effort among international space and National Park agencies (ESA, NASA, ONERA, DLR, ANPN and AGEOS) in support of the upcoming ESA BIOMASS, NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) and NASA Global Ecosystem Dynamics Initiative (GEDI) missions. The NASA contribution to the campaign was conducted in 2016 with the NASA LVIS (Land Vegetation and Ice Sensor) Lidar, the NASA L-band UAVSAR (Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar). A central motivation for the AfriSAR deployment was the common AGBD estimation requirement for the three future spaceborne missions, the lack of sufficient airborne and ground calibration data covering the full range of ABGD in tropical forest systems, and the intercomparison and fusion of the technologies. During the campaign, over 7000 km2 of waveform Lidar data from LVIS and 30000 km2 of UAVSAR data were collected over 10 key sites and transects. In addition, field measurements of forest structure and biomass were collected in sixteen 1 hectare sized plots. The campaign produced gridded Lidar canopy structure products, gridded aboveground biomass and associated uncertainties, Lidar based vegetation canopy cover profile products, Polarimetric Interferometric SAR and Tomographic SAR products and field measurements. Our results showcase the types of data products and scientific results expected from the spaceborne Lidar and SAR missions; we also expect that the AfriSAR campaign data will facilitate further analysis and use of waveform Lidar and multiple baseline polarimetric SAR datasets for carbon cycle, biodiversity, water resources and more applications by the greater scientific community.