SIBERIA-first ERS tandem results from the IGBP boreal forest transect

SIBERIA (SAR Imaging for Boreal Ecology and Radar Interferometry Applications) is an international effort to use ERS-1/2 and JERS-1 SAR images and interferometric information to map Siberian boreal vegetation characteristics. This paper gives an overview of the planned activities and presents first results of an area of major interest: the West-Transect of the North-Eurasian Study for the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program. The transect follows along 90 degrees Eastern longitude, crossing the boreal forest belt from 50 to 70 degrees northern latitude. It follows for a large part the Yenisei river, which represents the boarder between the West-Siberian plains and the mountainous Central Plateau. Along this transition, two distinct ecosystems meet: the spruce-birch dominated wetland taiga versus the continental larch-aspen taiga. The transect includes a super test site with meteorological and xylem flux measurement stations at 90 E, 60 N