Remote Sensing Methods for Estimating Aboveground Biomass of Sparse Shrubs in Arid Land

Shrubland aboveground biomass estimation plays indispensable role in carbon stock research. However, high accuracy aboveground biomass mapping of shrubs in sparsely vegetated arid areas needs comprehensive study. Here, we presented a method based on multi-source ultr-high spatial resolution optical data to extract shrub structural parameters, including crown size, diameters and height of different shrub species, to estimate the shrub aboveground biomass. Experiments were launched in northwestern China. We found that the SAM (Segment Anything Model) coupled with ultr-high spatial resolution optical images and the UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) derived shrub height are promising in delineating shrub crowns. Following the field measured aboveground biomass regression models, we can map high accuracy shrub aboveground biomass of sparsely vegetated arid areas.