QUANTIFYING CARBON LOSS AT FORESTS DEGRADED BY LOGGING WITH REPEATED AIRBORNE LIDAR DATA IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON

Forest degradation is a major issue and a key component of tropical forests and carbon emissions. In this study, we use repeated Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) data to quantify carbon losses in degraded forests due to logging at the Mato Grosso state rainforests. We identified logged areas using Planet Norway's International Climate and Forests Initiative (NICFI) satellite imagery and estimated aboveground carbon density (ACD) and changes (ΔACD) using canopy structure derived from ALS data acquired before and after the logging. Logging caused carbon losses between 16-35% of the original ACD, but also as high as 89% in heavily disturbed areas. Our findings bring estimates to limited sites, so we recommend caution on using them for estimates of carbon loss elsewhere. Spatialized and continuous estimates should be explored in future studies connecting ALS estimates with other optical and SAR remote sensing datasets.