Status and future of laser scanning, synthetic aperture radar and hyperspectral remote sensing data for forest biomass assessment

This is a review of the latest developments in different fields of remote sensing for forest biomass mapping. The main fields of research within the last decade have focused on the use of small footprint airborne laser scanning systems, polarimetric synthetic radar interferometry and hyperspectral data. Parallel developments in the field of digital airborne camera systems, digital photogrammetry and very high resolution multispectral data have taken place and have also proven themselves suitable for forest mapping issues. Forest mapping is a wide field and a variety of forest parameters can be mapped or modelled based on remote sensing information alone or combined with field data. The most common information required about a forest is related to its wood production and environmental aspects. In this paper, we will focus on the potential of advanced remote sensing techniques to assess forest biomass. This information is especially required by the REDD (reducing of emission from avoided deforestation and degradation) process. For this reason, new types of remote sensing data such as fullwave laser scanning data, polarimetric radar interferometry (polarimetric systhetic aperture interferometry, PolInSAR) and hyperspectral data are the focus of the research. In recent times, a few state-of-the-art articles in the field of airborne laser scanning for forest applications have been published. The current paper will provide a state-of-the-art review of remote sensing with a particular focus on biomass estimation, including new findings with fullwave airborne laser scanning, hyperspectral and polarimetric synthetic aperture radar interferometry. A synthesis of the actual findings and an outline of future developments will be presented.