Backscattering properties of boreal forests at C- and X-bands

Author

Pulliainen, Jouni ; Heiska, Kari ; Hyyppa, Iuha ; Hallikainen, Martii

Author_Institution

Lab. of Space Technol., Helsinki Univ. of Technol., Espoo, Finland

fYear

1993

fDate

18-21 Aug 1993

Firstpage

388

Abstract

The backscattering properties of boreal forests are studied using empirical airborne and spaceborne radar data from southern Finland. Airborne measurements were carried out in the summer 1992 by the HUTSCAT scatterometer. The HUTSCAT seatterometer is an 8-channel helicopter-borne profiling radar operating in Cand X-bands. Additionally, ERS-1 C-band satellite SAR measurements were obtained for the test area. The radar results were compared against operational ground-based forest assessment data on forest compartments (stands) of the area. The key parameter investigated was the stem (bole) volume per hectare, which is a parameter directly related to the biomass of the forest. The backscatter profile information was employed in the analysis of the canopy transmissivity and the canopy backscattering coefficient by separating backscattering contributions from the canopy and the ground

Keywords

backscatter; forestry; geophysical techniques; remote sensing; remote sensing by radar; 3 to 11 GHz; AD 1992; C-band; ERS-1; Finland; HUTSCAT scatterometer; SHF vegetation forestry; X-band; backscattering; biomass; boreal forest; canopy transmissivity; empirical airborne; geophysical radar; helicopter borne; land surface; measurement technique; microwave remote sensing; radiowave backscatter; spaceborne; stem; volume; wood tree trunk; Area measurement; Backscatter; Instruments; Radar measurements; Radar scattering; Soil measurements; Space technology; Spaceborne radar; Testing; Volume measurement;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 1993. IGARSS '93. Better Understanding of Earth Environment., International

Conference_Location

Tokyo

Print_ISBN

0-7803-1240-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IGARSS.1993.322320

Filename

322320