LiDAR Biomass Estimates for Eurasian Boreal Forests, 2005-2006

ICESat GLAS satellite and airborne LiDAR data from June 2005 and 2006 model aboveground biomass across the Eurasian boreal biome. Estimates are stratified by World Wildlife Fund ecoregions and MODIS land cover types, using different modeling approaches for western and eastern Eurasia. This dataset provides a biome-wide, leaf-on season snapshot of forest carbon stocks derived from multi-scale remote sensing.

Use Cases

• Modeling boreal forest carbon stocks based on ecoregion and land cover stratification.
• Calibrating satellite-derived biomass algorithms using the described two-phase modeling approach.
• Analyzing forest structure across the 50-70 degrees N latitude band in Eurasia.
• Validating regional biomass maps against LiDAR-based extrapolations.

Strengths

• Integrates ground, airborne, and satellite LiDAR (GLAS/ICESat) measurements for model development.
• Covers a vast spatial extent: the boreal biome across eastern and western Eurasia.
• Uses established stratification layers: WWF ecoregions and MODIS MOD12Q1 land cover (2004).

Limitations

• Metadata conflicts: one platform lists a last update in 2026, while another lists 2006, creating uncertainty about provenance.
• Ground-based measurement data used for modeling is not included in the dataset.
• Column names and precise data structure are not provided in the available metadata.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Models relating ground biomass to airborne LiDAR (ALTM 3100) and then to satellite LiDAR (GLAS/ICESat); eastern Eurasia used a direct ground-to-GLAS model.

Time Range

2005-06 to 2006-06

Freshness

Conflicting: one source lists last updated as 2026-04-10, another as 2006-06-26.

Geography

Boreal forest biome of eastern and western Eurasia, roughly between 50 and 70 degrees N.