Forest canopy height mapping using ICESat-2 data to aid forest management in a Canadian Arctic community: A case study of Kluane First Nation, Yukon, Canada

Abstract

As an essential indicator of a forest's growth capacity and rate, the increased accuracy, ease of access, processing and visualization of canopy height information can facilitate a targeted range of strategies for sustainable forest management, especially among citizen scientists and community members. Here, forest canopy height is estimated for several land parcel segments in a subarctic locale using ground-based measurements as well as photon and elevation data obtained from NASA's Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation satellite (ICESat-2). ICESat-2 offers a comprehensive view of vegetation structure and provides a unique opportunity to quantify forest canopy height changes, productivity and distribution in remote locations where it is often arduous and cost prohibitive to acquire ground data. Average canopy heights returned from ICESat-2 data compared with field measurements of above-ground biomass yielded a R² of 0.53, and root mean square error of 1.45 m, amplifying the use and potential value of this dataset and novel platform for multiple user groups interested in forestry mapping and ongoing monitoring of forest canopy height with increasing frequency to facilitate community-led decision making. This study demonstrates the utility and benefit of integrating remotely sensed data and field-based survey measurements to generate complementary information related to forest structure and diversity in this region.