Using Airborne LiDAR and QuickBird Data for Modelling Urban Tree Carbon Storage and Its Distribution—A Case Study of Berlin

While CO2 emissions of cities are widely discussed, carbon storage in urban vegetation has been rarely empirically analyzed. Remotely sensed data offer considerable benefits for addressing this lack of information. The aim of this paper is to develop and apply an approach that combines airborne LiDA...

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Main Authors: Johannes Schreyer, Jan Tigges, Tobia Lakes, Galina Churkina
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2014-11-01
Series:Remote Sensing
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/6/11/10636
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author Johannes Schreyer
Jan Tigges
Tobia Lakes
Galina Churkina
author_facet Johannes Schreyer
Jan Tigges
Tobia Lakes
Galina Churkina
author_sort Johannes Schreyer
collection DOAJ
description While CO2 emissions of cities are widely discussed, carbon storage in urban vegetation has been rarely empirically analyzed. Remotely sensed data offer considerable benefits for addressing this lack of information. The aim of this paper is to develop and apply an approach that combines airborne LiDAR and QuickBird to assess the carbon stored in urban trees of Berlin, Germany, and to identify differences between urban structure types. For a transect in the city, dendrometric parameters were first derived to estimate individual tree stem diameter and carbon storage with allometric equations. Field survey data were used for validation. Then, the individual tree carbon storage was aggregated at the level of urban structure types and the distribution of carbon storage was analysed. Finally, the results were extrapolated to the entire urban area. High accuracies of the detected tree locations were reached with 65.30% for all trees and 80.1% for dominant trees. The total carbon storage of the study area was 20,964.40 t (σ = 15,550.11 t). Its carbon density equaled 13.70 t/ha. A general center-to-periphery increase in carbon storage was identified along the transect. Our approach methods can be used by scientists and decision-makers to gain an empirical basis for the comparison of carbon storage capacities between cities and their subunits to develop adaption and mitigation strategies against climate change.
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spelling doaj.art-c44110e7bc6843d2a6b8fb6e440bf0ba2022-12-22T04:06:12ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922014-11-01611106361065510.3390/rs61110636rs61110636Using Airborne LiDAR and QuickBird Data for Modelling Urban Tree Carbon Storage and Its Distribution—A Case Study of BerlinJohannes Schreyer0Jan Tigges1Tobia Lakes2Galina Churkina3Geography Department, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, GermanyChair for Strategic Landscape Planning and Management, Technische Universität München, Emil-Ramann-Str. 6, 85354 Freising, GermanyGeography Department, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, GermanyGeography Department, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, GermanyWhile CO2 emissions of cities are widely discussed, carbon storage in urban vegetation has been rarely empirically analyzed. Remotely sensed data offer considerable benefits for addressing this lack of information. The aim of this paper is to develop and apply an approach that combines airborne LiDAR and QuickBird to assess the carbon stored in urban trees of Berlin, Germany, and to identify differences between urban structure types. For a transect in the city, dendrometric parameters were first derived to estimate individual tree stem diameter and carbon storage with allometric equations. Field survey data were used for validation. Then, the individual tree carbon storage was aggregated at the level of urban structure types and the distribution of carbon storage was analysed. Finally, the results were extrapolated to the entire urban area. High accuracies of the detected tree locations were reached with 65.30% for all trees and 80.1% for dominant trees. The total carbon storage of the study area was 20,964.40 t (σ = 15,550.11 t). Its carbon density equaled 13.70 t/ha. A general center-to-periphery increase in carbon storage was identified along the transect. Our approach methods can be used by scientists and decision-makers to gain an empirical basis for the comparison of carbon storage capacities between cities and their subunits to develop adaption and mitigation strategies against climate change.http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/6/11/10636LiDARQuickBirdurban vegetationurban treescarbon storagesequestrationspatial patternsclimate changemitigation
spellingShingle Johannes Schreyer
Jan Tigges
Tobia Lakes
Galina Churkina
Using Airborne LiDAR and QuickBird Data for Modelling Urban Tree Carbon Storage and Its Distribution—A Case Study of Berlin
Remote Sensing
LiDAR
QuickBird
urban vegetation
urban trees
carbon storage
sequestration
spatial patterns
climate change
mitigation
title Using Airborne LiDAR and QuickBird Data for Modelling Urban Tree Carbon Storage and Its Distribution—A Case Study of Berlin
title_full Using Airborne LiDAR and QuickBird Data for Modelling Urban Tree Carbon Storage and Its Distribution—A Case Study of Berlin
title_fullStr Using Airborne LiDAR and QuickBird Data for Modelling Urban Tree Carbon Storage and Its Distribution—A Case Study of Berlin
title_full_unstemmed Using Airborne LiDAR and QuickBird Data for Modelling Urban Tree Carbon Storage and Its Distribution—A Case Study of Berlin
title_short Using Airborne LiDAR and QuickBird Data for Modelling Urban Tree Carbon Storage and Its Distribution—A Case Study of Berlin
title_sort using airborne lidar and quickbird data for modelling urban tree carbon storage and its distribution a case study of berlin
topic LiDAR
QuickBird
urban vegetation
urban trees
carbon storage
sequestration
spatial patterns
climate change
mitigation
url http://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/6/11/10636
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