TITLE:
Modeling and Mapping Aboveground Biomass Using Landsat 8 and ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 Data in Cocoa Plantations, Ghana
AUTHORS:
Emmanuel Donkor, Samuel Ato Andam-Akorful, Edward Matthew Osei Jnr, Addo Koranteng, Stephen Adu-Bredu
KEYWORDS:
Aboveground Biomass, Cocoa Landscape, HV Backscatter Coefficient, Difference Vegetation Index (DVI), Multi Linear Regression, Universal Kriging
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.13 No.10,
October
28,
2026
ABSTRACT: Mapping of cocoa aboveground biomass (AGB) is essential, as it provides estimates of the total AGB locked up in cocoa plantations in the form of carbon. If this carbon is released into the atmosphere, it will increase the concentration of greenhouse gases, which will contribute to climate change. Remote sensing data has become an important tool for assessing forest and tree plantation biomass. This paper aims to map the spatial distribution of AGB of cocoa plantations in Juaboso and Bia West districts of Ghana by developing a regression model using Landsat 8 and ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 data and measured cocoa AGB. Multi Linear Regression (MLR) model was developed using forty (40) field-measured AGB at the plot level as the dependent variable and the Difference Vegetation Index (DVI) of Landsat 8 and HV backscatter coefficient of ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 images as independent variables. The model was validated using Coefficient of Determination (R2) and Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE) as the metrics for evaluating its accuracy. This model was used for the prediction of cocoa AGB. Geostatistical interpolation techniques using universal kriging, ordinary kriging, inverse distance weighting and radial basis function were tested, and the best method was used to develop AGB map of cocoa plantations in the study area. The best interpolation method was selected using R2, Index of Agreement (IA), P-values, RMSE, and Mean Absolute Error (MAE) metrics. The MLR used for the prediction of cocoa AGB is AGB (Mg/ha) = 6.97 * 10−4DVI + 3.56HV + 74.88. The best interpolation method is universal kriging, which was used to develop the AGB map of the cocoa plantations in the study area. The total AGB estimated for the cocoa plantations in the study area is in the range of (4973833.80 - 5240128.92) Mg. The model developed can be used to quantify AGB and subsequently CO2 equivalent, which are very important under the REDD + project for estimating emission levels in the cocoa plantations in the cocoa landscape. The results of this study have shown that the cocoa plantations have a substantial amount of AGB, which sequesters more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and deposits it in their sinks as carbon; therefore, cocoa plantations provide a lot of climate change mitigation.