ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF SEGMENT SIZE ON CANOPY HEIGHT ESTIMATION FROM NASA’S ICESAT-2 IN THE BRAZILIAN TROPICAL SAVANNA

This study evaluates the effectiveness of NASA’s ICESat-2 in estimating canopy height within Brazil's Cerrado (i.e., Brazilian tropical savanna), a critical biome undergoing rapid land-use change. By examining various segment sizes, from 25 to 100 meters, we assessed the accuracy of ICESat-2-derived canopy heights compared to UAV-LiDAR measurements in Cerrado climax forests. Our findings show that larger segment sizes (100 meters) improved estimation accuracy, as indicated by reduced mean difference and RMSD values, likely due to higher photon counts. This study demonstrates ICESat-2's potential for accurately capturing canopy height in dense tropical savanna, contributing valuable insights for forest biomass estimation and fire management applications. These results support the application of ICESat-2 in forest monitoring, with larger segment sizes recommended for optimal accuracy in similar ecosystems.