Assessing the Utility of Satellite Embedding Features for Biomass Prediction in Subtropical Forests with Machine Learning

Chao Jin, Xiaodong Jiang, Lina Wen, Chuping Wu, Xia Xu, Jiejie Jiao

Spatial predictions of forest biomass at regional scale in forests are critical to evaluate the effects of management practices across environmental gradients. Although multi-source remote sensing combined with machine learning has been widely applied to estimate forest biomass, these approaches often rely on complex data acquisition and processing workflows that limit their scalability for large-area assessments. To improve the efficiency, this study evaluates the potential of annual multi-sensor satellite embeddings derived from the AlphaEarth Foundations model for forest biomass prediction. Using field inventory data from 89 forest plots at the Yunhe Forestry Station in Zhejiang Province, China, we assessed and compared the performance of four machine learning algorithms: Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Regression (SVR), Multi-Layer Perceptron Neural Networks (MLPNN), and Gaussian Process Regression (GPR). Model evaluation was conducted using repeated 5-fold cross-validation. The results show that SVR achieved the highest predictive accuracy in broad-leaved and mixed forests, whereas RF performed best in coniferous forests. When all forest types were modeled together, predictive performance was consistently limited across algorithms, indicating substantial heterogeneity (e.g., structure, environment, and topography) among forest types. Spatial prediction maps across Yunhe Forestry Station revealed ecologically coherent patterns, with higher biomass values concentrated in intact forests with less human disturbance and lower biomass primarily occurring in fragmented forests and near urban regions. Overall, this study highlights the potential of embedding-based remote sensing for regional forest biomass estimation and suggests its utility for large-scale forest monitoring and management.