Estimating regional forest aboveground biomass in New England, USA, using remote sensing and forest inventory data

We combined remotely sensed information (Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer) and USDA Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis data to estimate forest aboveground biomass (AGB) across the 6 New England states, USA.  Our methodology is practical for large-scale carbon studies and may reduce uncertainty of AGB estimates.  We estimated that total forest AGB in these states was 1,867 Teragram (10¹², dry weight) in 2001 with a mean AGB density of 120 Mg ha^-1 (Standard deviation (Std.) = 54 Mg ha^-1) ranging from 15 to 240 Mg ha^-1 within a 95% percentile.  Deciduous forests have a mean AGB of 127 Mg ha^-1, 32% higher than that of conifers (96 Mg ha^-1) with the similar pattern in Std. (57 Mg ha^-1 for deciduous vs. 53 Mg ha^-1 for conifers).  The majority of New England forests (58.2%) were in the range of 80 to 160 Mg ha^-1.  High AGB densities were observed along the Appalachian Mountains starting from northwestern CT to the Green Mountains in VT and White Mountains in NH while low AGB densities were concentrated in the downeast area of ME and the Cape Cod area of MA.  Mixed forests stored 59% of the total AGB; deciduous and evergreen forests contained 39% and 2%, respectively, at 1-km resolution.