Forest Biomass Estimates from LiDAR and PALSAR in Brazil

2012 estimates of forest aboveground biomass for the Paragominas municipality in Para, Brazil. The dataset was produced by NASA using gradient boosting machine models to assimilate ground inventory plot data with LiDAR and PALSAR remote sensing metrics. It provides spatially explicit predictions of biomass and uncertainty for three focal study areas and the entire municipality.

Use Cases

• Mapping carbon density across a Brazilian municipality using predicted biomass per hectare.
• Validating remote sensing biomass models with ground-based inventory plot measurements.
• Analyzing spatial uncertainty in biomass estimates derived from LiDAR and PALSAR fusion.
• Studying forest structure and carbon sequestration potential in the Amazon region.

Strengths

• Data combines ground truth from inventory plots with remote sensing from two systems (LiDAR and PALSAR).
• Model outputs include spatially explicit predictions of biomass and associated uncertainty.
• Coverage includes three specific study areas and the entire Paragominas municipality.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable across all platforms.
• There is a conflict in the 'last updated' date: one source lists 2013-12-31, while another lists 2026-03 13.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Aboveground biomass measured in inventory plots, then modeled with LiDAR and PALSAR metrics using gradient boosting machines.

Time Range

2012

Freshness

2026-03-13 00:56:46.011991

Geography

Paragominas municipality, Para, Brazil, including three focal study areas.