Relating forest biomass to SAR data

Author

Le Toan, T. ; Beaudoin, A. ; Riom, J. ; Guyon, D.

Author_Institution

Centre d´´Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements, CNRS, Univ. Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France

Volume

30

Issue

2

fYear

1992

fDate

3/1/1992 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

403

Lastpage

411

Abstract

The authors present the results of an experiment defined to demonstrate the use of radar to retrieve forest biomass. The SAR data were acquired by the NASA/JPL SAR over the Landes pine forest during the 1989 MAESTRO-1 campaign. The SAR data, after calibration, were analyzed together with ground data collected on forest stands from a young stage (eight years) to a mature stage (46 years). The dynamic range of the radar backscatter intensity from forest was found to be greatest at P-band and decreased with increasing frequencies. Cross-polarized backscatter intensity yielded the best sensitivities to variations of forest biomass. L-band data confirmed past results on good correlation with forest parameters. The most striking observation was the strong correlation of P-band backscatter intensity to forest biomass

Keywords

backscatter; ecology; forestry; remote sensing by radar; 46 y; 8 y; AD 1989; France; L-band; Landes pine forest; MAESTRO-1 campaign; P-band; SAR data; backscatter intensity; cross polarised backscatter intensity; ecology; forest biomass; forest stands; remote sensing; Backscatter; Biomass; Calibration; Dynamic range; Ecosystems; Reflectivity; Remote monitoring; Satellites; Spaceborne radar; Vegetation mapping;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Geoscience and Remote Sensing, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0196-2892

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/36.134089

Filename

134089