Dem-assisted analysis of ALOS PALSAR backscatter in Kwangneung experiment forest

ALOS data have provided useful information on forest cover and biomass since 2006. Unfortunately, topographic effects influence illumination and shadow conditions of terrain so that accuracy statements of the biomass derived from ALOS data (i.e., both AVNIR-2 and PALSAR) are confused with ground truth data. The aforementioned reason has led to the initiation of this research to determine if ALOS data can be used both to estimate the stem volume and to monitor the canopy of forest in mountainous area.