Forest DTC aims to realise a digital replica for forests, maximising the use of Earth observation (EO) data at high spatial resolution.
Estimates of carbon fluxes will be generated using a forest growth model driven by EO data complemented by forest maps, spatial forestry data from national databases, meteorological data and EO-derived biophysical variables.
Forest DTC will provide a comprehensive description of the forest subsystem, including structural information such as species composition, tree density, basal area and dominant tree height.
It will also provide productivity-related information including site type, above- and below- ground biomass estimates, various productivity metrics (e.g., GPP and NEE) and annual tree growth rates. Four demonstration use cases will be developed:
- Assessment of forest biotic disturbances
- Evaluation of fire fuel and hazards
- Impact of management on forest resources and carbon balance
- Monitoring and modelling for forests using hyperspectral data and tree-level information across a gradient from tropical to continental.
