Measurements of forest biomass change using L- and P-band sar backscatter

Abstract

Three-year forest above-ground biomass change were measured using L- and P-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) backscatter. The SAR data were collected in the airborne BioSAR 2007 and BioSAR 2010 campaigns over the hemiboreal Remningstorp test site in southern Sweden. Regression models for biomass were developed using reference biomass maps created using airborne laser scanning data and field measurements. The results from regression analysis show that using HV backscatter (or VH) in a model with above-ground biomass and backscatter change on either natural logarithmic or square root, and decibel scale, respectively, explained most of the variation in the biomass change, both for L- and P-band. In the case of L-band, the two best cases showed R2 values of 66%, when comparing two SAR images acquired 2007 and 2010. For P-band using the same models, the best cases showed R2 values of 62%. In summary, the results look promising using L- and P-band backscattering for mapping biomass change.