Investigating RaDAR–LiDAR synergy in a North Carolina pine forest

A low frequency (80–120 MHz) VHF RaDAR, BioSAR, specifically designed for forest biomass estimation and a profiling LiDAR, PALS, were flown over loblolly pine plantations in the southeastern United States. LiDAR-only, RaDAR-only, and joint LiDAR–RaDAR linear models were developed to determine if returns from two sensors could be used to estimate pine biomass more accurately and precisely than returns from either sensor alone. The best five-variable RaDAR model explained 81.8% (R2) of the stem green biomass variability, with a regression RMSE of 57.5 t/ha. The best one-variable LiDAR model explained 93.3% of the biomass variation (RMSE = 33.9 t/ha). Combining the RaDAR normalized volumetric returns with the profiling LiDAR ranging measurements did little to improve the best LiDAR-only model. The best LiDAR–RaDAR model explained 93.8% of the biomass variation (RSME = 32.7 t/ha). Cross-validation and training/test validation procedures demonstrated (1) that all models are unbiased and (2) the increased precision of the LiDAR-only and LiDAR–RaDAR models. The results of this investigation and a companion study indicate that there is little to be gained combining VHF–RaDAR volumetric returns and profiling LiDAR ranging measurements in pine forests; a LiDAR ranging system is sufficient for accurate, precise biomass estimation.