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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">ISPRS-Annals</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">ISPRS-Annals</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">ISPRS Ann. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci.</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub">2194-9050</issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/isprs-annals-XI-3-2026-835-2026</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Forest Canopy Height Mapping in Tanzanian Tropical Rainforests Using Multimodal Remote Sensing Data and Machine Learning</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Zaghian</surname>
<given-names>Soheil</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Khankeshizadeh</surname>
<given-names>Seyed Ehsan</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Jamali</surname>
<given-names>Sadegh</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Tagesson</surname>
<given-names>Torbern</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Mauya</surname>
<given-names>Ernest William</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Mohammadzadeh</surname>
<given-names>Ali</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3329-5063</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Francis</surname>
<given-names>Filbert</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Department of Technology and Society, Faculty of Engineering, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, 221 00 Lund, Sweden</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Department of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Faculty of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering, K. N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran 19967-15443, Iran</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lund University, Sölvegatan 12, Lund, Sweden</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff4">
<label>4</label>
<addr-line>Department of Forest Engineering and Wood Sciences, College of Forestry, Wildlife and Tourism, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, Tanzania</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>08</day>
<month>07</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>XI-3-2026</volume>
<fpage>835</fpage>
<lpage>842</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 Soheil Zaghian et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://isprs-annals.copernicus.org/articles/XI-3-2026/835/2026/isprs-annals-XI-3-2026-835-2026.html">This article is available from https://isprs-annals.copernicus.org/articles/XI-3-2026/835/2026/isprs-annals-XI-3-2026-835-2026.html</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://isprs-annals.copernicus.org/articles/XI-3-2026/835/2026/isprs-annals-XI-3-2026-835-2026.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://isprs-annals.copernicus.org/articles/XI-3-2026/835/2026/isprs-annals-XI-3-2026-835-2026.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>Forest canopy height (FCH) is a critical biophysical parameter that characterizes forest structure and provides fundamental information for estimating above-ground biomass and carbon stocks. The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) Level 2A (L2A) product offers accurate canopy height observations; however, its point-based nature constrains spatial continuity in FCH mapping. This study integrates the multimodal remote sensing datasets for continuous FCH mapping in Tanzania&amp;rsquo;s West Usambara (WUSA) forest, recognized globally for its rich biodiversity and ecological significance. Hence, remote sensing data, including Sentinel-1 polarizations (VV and VH), Sentinel-2 spectral bands and vegetation indices, and the SRTM digital elevation model (DEM), were integrated and matched with GEDI canopy height data used as reference for FCH modelling. The optimal feature set was derived by evaluating the performance of several feature selection and extraction methods, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Minimum Noise Fraction (MNF), Recursive Feature Elimination (RFE), Sequential Feature Selection (SFS), and the Selected K-Best approach using F-value and mutual information scoring functions. The feature set derived from RFE, comprising ten features from all data sources, demonstrated the highest accuracy and reliability in FCH modelling. Subsequently, four machine learning algorithms, including Random Forest (RF), Gradient Boosting Regressor (GBR), Support Vector Regressor (SVR), and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), were evaluated for FCH modelling. Accordingly, RF achieved higher R&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; than GBR, SVR, and OLS, with differences of 0.9%, 8.7%, and 16.4%, respectively. Therefore, the RF model, as the most reliable model, was employed for FCH mapping across the WUSA forest.</p>
</abstract>
<counts><page-count count="8"/></counts>
</article-meta>
</front>
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