Forest Height Estimation by Means of Pol-InSAR Data Inversion: The Role of the Vertical Wavenumber

Kugler, Florian; Lee, Seung-Kuk; Hajnsek, Irena; Papathanassiou, Konstantinos

doi:10.1109/tgrs.2015.2420996

Cited by 166 publications

(162 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…which provides the equation as a product of the imaginary and real functions [45]. As can be noted from (7) and (8), a convenient argument for this problem is not h, but hκ z .…”

Section: Rvog Model Simplificationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interferometric SAR Coherence Models for Characterization of Hemiboreal Forests Using TanDEM-X Data

et al. 2016

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Abstract:In this study, four models describing the interferometric coherence of the forest vegetation layer are proposed and compared with the TanDEM-X data. Our focus is on developing tools for hemiboreal forest height estimation from single-pol interferometric SAR measurements, suitable for wide area forest mapping with limited a priori information. The multi-temporal set of 19 TanDEM-X interferometric pairs and the 90th percentile forest height maps are derived from Airborne LiDAR Scanning (ALS), covering an area of 2211 ha of forests over Estonia. Three semi-empirical models along with the Random Volume over Ground (RVoG) model are examined for applicable parameter ranges and model performance under various conditions for over 3000 forest stands. This study shows that all four models performed well in describing the relationship between forest height and interferometric coherence. Use of an advanced model with multiple parameters is not always justified when modeling the volume decorrelation in the boreal and hemiboreal forests. The proposed set of semi-empirical models, show higher robustness compared to a more advanced RVoG model under a range of seasonal and environmental conditions during data acquisition. We also examine the dynamic range of parameters that different models can take and propose optimal conditions for forest stand height inversion for operationally-feasible scenarios.

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“…which provides the equation as a product of the imaginary and real functions [45]. As can be noted from (7) and (8), a convenient argument for this problem is not h, but hκ z .…”

Section: Rvog Model Simplificationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interferometric SAR Coherence Models for Characterization of Hemiboreal Forests Using TanDEM-X Data

et al. 2016

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“…Kugler et al evaluated the multifaceted effect of the effective spatial baseline by analyzing the vertical wavenumber (Kz). He concluded that a good choice to get reliable forest height estimates with sufficient accuracy for single baseline acquisitions is to select Kz ranging from 0.05 to 0.15 rad/m [60]. According to our statistics of five pairs of PolInSAR datasets in the two flight directions, we found that the baselines of 32 m in both two flight directions can better fulfill the above condition of Kz.…”

Section: Polarimetric Sar Datamentioning

confidence: 76%

Forest Above-Ground Biomass Estimation Using Single-Baseline Polarization Coherence Tomography with P-Band PolInSAR Data

Zhang

Wang

Zhu

et al. 2018

Forests

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Abstract:Forest above ground biomass (AGB) extraction using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images has been widely used in global carbon cycle research. Classical AGB inversion methods using SAR images are mainly based on backscattering coefficients. The polarization coherence tomography (PCT) technology which can generate vertical profiles of forest relative reflectivity, has the potential to improve the accuracy of biomass inversion. The relationship between vertical profiles and forest AGB is modeled by some parameters defined based on geometric characteristics of the relative reflectivity distribution curve. But these parameters are defined without physical characteristics. Among these parameters, tomographic height (TomoH) is considered as the most important one. However, TomoH only corresponds to the highest volume relative reflectivity, which is lower than the actual forest height, affecting the accuracy of forest height and AGB inversion. In this paper, we introduce a new parameter, the canopy height (H ac ), for AGB inversion by analyzing the vertical backscatter power loss. Then, we construct an inversion model based on the combination of the new parameter (H ac ) and other parameters from the tomographic profile. The P-band polarimetric SAR datasets of the European Space Agency (ESA) BioSAR 2008 campaign acquired over Krycklan Catchment are selected for the verification experiment at two different flight directions. The results show that H ac performs better in estimating forest height and AGB than TomoH does. The inversion root mean square error (RMSE) of the proposed method is 18.325 t ha −1 , and the result of using TomoH is 21.126 t ha −1 .

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“…If the angle of the range-facing terrain slope is denoted as τ c , we can attempt to partially correct for the effects of the range slope by calculating k z as follows, in the monostatic (repeat-pass) case [7,8]:…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of temporal decorrelation and topographic slope on forest height retrieval using airborne repeat-pass L-band polarimetric SAR interferometry

Denbina

Simard

2016

2016 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS)

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We have explored the effects of temporal baseline and terrain slope on forest height estimation using L-band repeat-pass polarimetric synthetic aperture radar interferometry. Data were collected using NASA's Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar instrument over a study area exhibiting high slope topography in the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve of Québec, Canada. We used lidar-derived canopy height and terrain slope maps to quantify the decorrelation effects that distort the observed coherences compared to the random volume over ground forest model. We derived forest height maps for a number of different temporal baselines using both fixed model parameters and model parameters that varied with slope, and compared the results. Use of a lookup table for the terrain slope effects improved the estimated forest heights, but further work is necessary to see if slope corrections derived from lidar data for this study area can be applied to other study areas, or generalized to a theoretical model.

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Forest Height Estimation by Means of Pol-InSAR Data Inversion: The Role of the Vertical Wavenumber

Cited by 166 publications

References 71 publications

Interferometric SAR Coherence Models for Characterization of Hemiboreal Forests Using TanDEM-X Data

Interferometric SAR Coherence Models for Characterization of Hemiboreal Forests Using TanDEM-X Data

Forest Above-Ground Biomass Estimation Using Single-Baseline Polarization Coherence Tomography with P-Band PolInSAR Data

The effects of temporal decorrelation and topographic slope on forest height retrieval using airborne repeat-pass L-band polarimetric SAR interferometry

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