Land consumption monitoring: an innovative method integrating SAR and optical data

Abstract

In this paper, the use of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for the monitoring of land consumption is analyzed. The paper presents an automatic procedure that integrates SAR and optical data, which can be effectively used to generate land consumption maps or update existing maps. The main input of the procedure is a series of SAR amplitude images acquired over a given geographical area and observation period. The main assumption of the procedure is that land consumption is associated with an increase of the SAR amplitude values. Such an increase is detected in the SAR amplitude time series using an automatic Bayesian algorithm. The results based on the SAR amplitude are then filtered using an NDVI map derived from optical imagery. The effectiveness of the proposed procedure is illustrated using SAR data from the Sentinel-1 and TerraSAR-X sensors, and optical data from the Sentinel-2 sensor.

Land Consumption Classification Using Sentinel 1 Data: A Systematic Review

“…Its loss is mostly attributable to industrial activities, urbanization, construction of new buildings and infrastructures, expansion, development, densification of urban areas, etc. [1,31]. Land consumption consequences are various, namely, contamination, loss of soil fertility and the ability to produce raw materials, erosion, hydrologic cycle alteration, impact on biodiversity, loss of high-quality agricultural land, higher risk of flooding, effects on climate changes, cultural and landscape heritage, degradation of the landscape, scenic pollution, etc.…”

“…At the global level, the temperature increase is due to the release of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the increase of the saturated water vapor pressure, and the rise of the sea surface [33]. By contrast, in urban areas, the relative humidity has significantly decreased due to the diminution in the amount of evaporation (steam amount) based on the diminution of the water surface and green areas and the increase in the temperature due to the heat storage by buildings and waste heat [1,34]. In addition, part of the precipitation that drops on the soil surface, infiltrates, and crosses the subsoil, whereas part of that evaporates into the atmosphere, falls to the soil surface, and is finally introduced into water bodies, including lakes, oceans and rivers [35].…”

“…Land consumption, or land take, can be defined as the conversion of agricultural or naturally healthy soil into residential, commercial, or other developed areas with artificial covering (consumed land), due to the removal of vegetation and the loss of natural or semi-natural soil [1].…”

“…They include the commonly used supervised or unsupervised methods applying pixel-based or object-based approaches. Some of the existing methods are based on a mix of semi-automatic classification and photointerpretation of satellite and airborne optical images [7], whereas more recent methods are focused on spectral indices [14,15], machine learning technics [16], integration of SAR and optical images [1], or a combination between radar and Geospatial Big Data [17]. However, those methods always are dependent on the datasets used.…”

Monitoring and Mathematical Model Analysis of Dynamic Changes in Land Resources Based on SAR Sensor Image

“…At present, remote sensing technology with remote sensing digital terrain model as its core and spatial analysis as its prominent features provides new technical means for monitoring and analyzing the dynamic changes of land resources, such as using remote sensing images for the determination of airport construction and land resource range. In SAR imagery, typical urban structures are affected by overlay, secondary scattering, and shadow effects, which are related to the slope geometry of radar sensors [15]. This method first uses a machine learning method to detect building changes in high-resolution optical remote sensing images and then uses high-resolution synthetic aperture radar images to perform building height inversion and extract the height of new buildings.…”