Prediction of Forest Attributes with Field Plots, Landsat, and a Sample of Lidar Strips: A Case Study on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska

In this study we demonstrate that sample strips of lidar in combination with Landsat can be used to predict forest at­ tributes more precisely than from Landsat alone. While Hdar and Landsat can each be used alone in vegetation mapping, the cost of wall to wall Jidar may exceed usen;' financial resources, and Landsat may not support the desired level of prediction precision. Vlle compare fitted linear models and k nearest neighbors (kNN) methods to link field measure­ ments, lidar, and Landsat. We also compare 900m 2 and 8,100 m 2 resolutions to link lidar to Landsat. An approach with Jidar and Landsat together reduced estimates of residual variability for biomass by up to 36 percent relative to using Landsat alone. Linear models generally performed better than kNN approaches, and when linking lidar to Landsat, using 8,100 m 2 resolution performed better than 900m2 •