Quantifying the Aboveground Biomass (AGB) of Gobi Desert Shrub Communities in Northwestern China Based on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) RGB Images

Jie Ding, Zhipeng Li, Heyu Zhang, Pu Zhang, Xiaoming Cao and Yiming Feng
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Jie Ding: Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
Zhipeng Li: Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
Heyu Zhang: Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
Pu Zhang: Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
Xiaoming Cao: Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China
Yiming Feng: Institute of Desertification Studies, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing 100091, China

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 4, 1-17

Abstract: Shrubs are an important part of the Gobi Desert ecosystem, and their aboveground biomass (AGB) is an important manifestation of the productivity of the Gobi Desert ecosystem. Characterizing the biophysical properties of low-stature vegetation such as shrubs in the Gobi Desert via conventional field surveys and satellite remote sensing images is challenging. The AGB of shrubs had been estimated from spectral variables taken from high-resolution images obtained by unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the Gobi Desert, Xinjiang, China, using vegetation feature metrics. The main results were as follows: (1) Based on the UAV images, several RGB vegetation indices (RGB VIs) were selected to extract the vegetation coverage, and it was found that the excess green index (EXG) had the highest accuracy and the overall extraction accuracy of vegetation coverage reached 97.00%. (2) According to field sample plot surveys, the AGB and shrub crown area of single shrubs in the Gobi Desert were in line with a power model. From the bottom of the alluvial fan to the top of the alluvial fan, as the altitude increased, the AGB of the vegetation communities showed an increasing trend: the AGB of the vegetation communities at the bottom of the alluvial fan was 2–90 g/m 2 , while that at the top of the alluvial fan was 60–201 g/m 2 . (3) Vegetation coverage (based on the UAV image EXG index) and AGB showed a good correlation. The two conform to the relationship model (R 2 = 0.897) and the expression is Y = 1167.341 x 0.946 , where Y is the AGB of the sample plots in units g/m 2 and x is the vegetation coverage extracted by the VI. (4) The predicted AGB values of Gobi Desert shrubs using UAV RGB images based on a power model were closer to the actual observed AGB values. The study findings provide a more efficient, accurate, and low-cost method for estimating vegetation coverage and AGB of Gobi Desert shrubs.

Keywords: UAV; vegetation coverage; aboveground biomass; shrub; Gobi Desert (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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