Forest Structure Estimation using space-borne polarimetric radar. An ALOS-PALSAR case study.

Here we investigate the potential use of ALOS PALSAR L-band dual and quad polarization SAR data for improved forest structure mapping and parameter estimation. Several scenes of level 1.1 SLC data have been acquired under the DRAGON project in 2007 for the Tai-An test site of Shandong Province, P.R. China. The preliminary results for the first phase of this project are reported here. Firstly, the geo-coding method and its geo-location accuracy are evaluated with one geo-coded Landsat ETM as reference. Secondly, a high resolution DEM is used for implementing GTC processing. The benefits and limitations of GTC for forest mapping are evaluated with a SPOT5 image. Thirdly, various entropyalpha polarimetric segmentation methods are evaluated for forest classification. Finally, interferometric coherence images are generated to investigate the possibility of studying polarimetric interferometry based forest structure information extraction methods.

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