{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,19]],"date-time":"2026-06-19T20:44:24Z","timestamp":1781901864989,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,4]],"date-time":"2020-05-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1588550400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The present study evaluates the L band Vegetation Optical Depth (L-VOD) derived from the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite to monitor Above Ground Biomass (AGB) at a global scale. Although SMOS L-VOD has been shown to be a good proxy for AGB in Africa and Tropics, little is known about this relationship at large scale. In this study, we further examine this relationship at a global scale using the latest AGB maps from Saatchi et al. and GlobBiomass computed using data acquired during the SMOS period. We show that at a global scale the L-VOD from SMOS is well-correlated with the AGB estimates from Saatchi et al. and GlobBiomass with the Pearson\u2019s correlation coefficients (R) of 0.91 and 0.94 respectively. Although AGB estimates in Africa and the Tropics are well-captured by SMOS L-VOD (R &gt; 0.9), the relationship is less straightforward for the dense forests over the northern latitudes (R = 0.32 and 0.69 with Saatchi et al. and GlobBiomass respectively). This paper gives strong evidence in support of the sensitivity of SMOS L-VOD to AGB estimates at a globale scale, providing an interesting alternative and complement to exisiting sensors for monitoring biomass evolution. These findings can further facilitate research on biomass now that SMOS is providing more than 10 years of data.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs12091450","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,4]],"date-time":"2020-05-04T14:00:43Z","timestamp":1588600843000},"page":"1450","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":48,"title":["Evaluation of the Sensitivity of SMOS L-VOD to Forest Above-Ground Biomass at Global Scale"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7970-0701","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Arnaud","family":"Mialon","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"CESBIO Centre d\u2019Etudes Spatiales de la Biosph\u00e8re Universit\u00e9 de Toulouse, CNES\/CNRS\/INRAE\/IRD\/UPS, 18 av. Edouard Belin, bpi 2801, 31401 CEDEX 9 Toulouse, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3796-149X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nemesio J.","family":"Rodr\u00edguez-Fern\u00e1ndez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CESBIO Centre d\u2019Etudes Spatiales de la Biosph\u00e8re Universit\u00e9 de Toulouse, CNES\/CNRS\/INRAE\/IRD\/UPS, 18 av. Edouard Belin, bpi 2801, 31401 CEDEX 9 Toulouse, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3339-6991","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maurizio","family":"Santoro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Gamma Remote Sensing, Worbstrasse 225, 3073 Gumligen, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sassan","family":"Saatchi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3166-7583","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"St\u00e9phane","family":"Mermoz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CESBIO Centre d\u2019Etudes Spatiales de la Biosph\u00e8re Universit\u00e9 de Toulouse, CNES\/CNRS\/INRAE\/IRD\/UPS, 18 av. Edouard Belin, bpi 2801, 31401 CEDEX 9 Toulouse, France"},{"name":"Globeo, (Global Earth Observation), Avenue Saint-Exupery, 31400 Toulouse, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Emma","family":"Bousquet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CESBIO Centre d\u2019Etudes Spatiales de la Biosph\u00e8re Universit\u00e9 de Toulouse, CNES\/CNRS\/INRAE\/IRD\/UPS, 18 av. Edouard Belin, bpi 2801, 31401 CEDEX 9 Toulouse, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6352-1717","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yann H.","family":"Kerr","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CESBIO Centre d\u2019Etudes Spatiales de la Biosph\u00e8re Universit\u00e9 de Toulouse, CNES\/CNRS\/INRAE\/IRD\/UPS, 18 av. Edouard Belin, bpi 2801, 31401 CEDEX 9 Toulouse, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,5,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"945","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2486.2005.00955.x","article-title":"Aboveground Forest Biomass and the Global Carbon Balance","volume":"11","author":"Houghton","year":"2005","journal-title":"Glob. Chang. 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