Polarimetric interferometric studies of the harvard forest using l-band UAVSAR data repeat pass data

Quantification of the various components of the carbon cycle budget is key to improved climate modeling and projecting anthropogenic affects on climate in the future. Estimating the levels of above ground biomass contained in the world´s forests that comprise 86% of the planet´s above ground carbon and monitoring the rate of change to these standing stocks resulting from both natural and anthropogenic disturbances is necessary to solving the carbon cycle sink. Remote sensing is the only viable means of obtaining a global inventory of forest biomass at the hectare scale. The most promising means of obtaining remotely sensed biomass measurements involve using either lidar or radar measurements of vegetation structure coupled with allometric relationships. We have collected repeat-pass L-band fully polarimetric radar data at multiple spatial and temporal baselines to investigate the tree height and structure measurements using polarimetric interferometry techniques. This paper will discuss this experiment and comparison with lidar data.