Abstract
Accurate information about temperate forest distribution and extent is important to quantify the carbon sink in the northern temperate forest. While Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) multi‐temporal spectral information has been extensively studied for this purpose, it has not been fully studied whether Multi‐angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) information is helpful for temperate forest mapping at 1.1‐km resolution. This Letter addresses the potential use of 1.1‐km multi‐angular MISR data to improve temperate forest mapping based on a study area in eastern USA. Classification accuracy using nadir‐only MISR data is compared with results derived from the combined use of some off‐nadir MISR data. The results show a substantial increase in forest mapping accuracy when off‐nadir spectral measurements are used.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by NASA‐funded project Middle Atlantic Geospatial Information Consortium. We would like to acknowledge NASA Langley Atmospheric Sciences Data Center for their provision of the MISR data and their technical support. We would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers who provided valuable comments for improving this manuscript.