The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences
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Articles | Volume XLVIII-3-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLVIII-3-2024-163-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLVIII-3-2024-163-2024
07 Nov 2024
 | 07 Nov 2024

Tropical forest robust 3D description using advanced multidimensional SAR imaging: techniques and performance in the context of the upcoming BIOMASS mission

Laurent Ferro-Famil, Yue Huang, Pierre-Antoine Bou, and Stefano Tebaldini

Keywords: Tropical Forest, BIOMASS, SAR tomography, radar, polarimetry

Abstract. This paper proposes to quantitatively estimate the potential of 3D SAR imaging for tropical forest characterization using airborne and spaceborne system configuration. A robust forest characterization technique, relying a low-dimensionality model is proposed and is compared with a well-established polarimetric and tomographic approach. The investigated forest descriptors are the underlying ground topography (DTM) and the forest height (CHM). A quantitative performance evaluation reveals that the presented parametric technique achieves high-precision results at both high-resolution (airborne) and low resolution (BIOMASS) modes, whereas existing approaches meet limitations, due the coarse resolution of spaceborne SAR data.