Simulation of Interferometric SAR Response for Characterizing Forest Successional Dynamics

The dynamics of scattering phase center height (SPCH) in a paper birch stand throughout its succession following clear cutting was studied to improve the interpretation of interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) response to forest structure changes. A forest growth model (ZELIG) and a fractal tree model (L-system) were utilized together for simulation of the three-dimensional (3-D) structure changes of the stand. Then, a high-fidelity coherent radar scattering model (CORSM) based on 3-D forest structure was employed to simulate the SPCH dynamics of the birch stand. The simulation experiment shows that correlation between L-band SPCH and forest parameters (Lorey´s mean height (hL) and biomass) could be noticeably affected by changing pattern of 3-D forest structure at different successional stages, which should be considered in our future exploration of SPCH for forest parameter estimation.