Combined use of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 data for improving above-ground biomass estimation

Above-ground Biomass (AGB) represents the largest amount of biomass found on earth. Passive and active remote sensors have been a useful tool in estimating AGB for this purpose; nevertheless, both data sources suffer from saturation problems in dense vegetation. A combination of optical and radar data could potentially increase the accuracy of AGB estimation. In this study we evaluate the synergistic use of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 for assessing AGB in a private forest in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Forty five sample plots of 20 m x 20 m were used as ground truth data. AGB correlated with Sentinel-1 backscatter and Sentinel-2 derived variables with R2 = 0.34 and R2 = 0.82, respectively; nevertheless, the synergistic use of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 yielded the highest accuracy (i.e., R2 = 0.84). The results indicate that AGB in Yogyakarta is most accurately estimated based on the synergy of optical and radar satellite images.