**1.6 Key concepts for biomass assessment**

Lidar remote sensing provides a direct estimation of the elevation of intercepted features. In the context of vegetation, if signals from the ground and vegetation can be distinguished, the relative heights above ground of forest canopies can be calculated. Since an adequate stem diameter and canopy structure are needed to support tree dimensions, vegetation height is closely related to volume and therefore biomass. The sections below provide examples of applications of lidar systems for biomass assessment.
