Simard, Marc (Mac): Jet Propulsion Laboratory / Caltech (Project Lead)
Neumann, Maxim: JPL (Co-Investigator)
Pinto, Naiara: JPL (Co-Investigator)
Project Funding:
2014 - 2017
NRA: 2013 NASA: Terrestrial Ecology
Funded by NASA
Abstract:
This is a successor proposal addressing the use of repeat-pass polinSAR (polarimetric and
interferometric synthetic aperture radar) to estimate forest canopy height, structure and
biomass as well as their respective accuracy. We propose to exploit the polinSAR
potential of a rich UAVSAR dataset (L-band polarimetric repeat-pass interferometry)
generated during a TE-funded project (2009-2012) over 6 sites covering boreal,
temperate and tropical forests. Those sites are located in Quebec, Maine, New
Hampshire, Massachusetts, California and Costa Rica. We quantified the impact of
temporal decorrelation on interferometric coherence (Simard et al., 2012) and developed
forward models for temporal decorrelation (Lavalle et al, 2012).
One of the Carbon Cycle and Ecosystem new observations priority is the
“measurements of vegetation height and profiles of three-dimensional ecosystem
structure to estimate above-ground biomass and carbon stocks with greatly reduced
uncertainties and to characterize species habitats in ways that will enable exploration of
fundamental controls on biodiversityť.
The proposed objectives are to:
1. Develop a robust and efficient method to correct polinSAR products for temporal
decorrelation
a. Compare temporal decorrelation compensation methods
b. Develop an iterative procedure to adaptively correct for temporal decorrelation
with observed canopy structure parameters
c. Estimate microwave extinction using polinSAR inversion and known canopy
heights from lidar data
d. Estimate coarse canopy layer using single baseline data through Legendre
Decomposition
2. Distribute and discuss polinSAR products to the science community at large
a. Provide access to polinSAR data through a website interface for all sites
b. Organize a UAVSAR polinSAR workshop with a course, presentations and
discussions.
Through this polinSAR analysis, we will produce validated maps of canopy height,
structure (e.g. coarse vertical layers) and biomass. We will investigate the role of canopy
structure and microwave extinction in driving canopy height estimation accuracy. All
polinSAR products, with documentation and support, will be distributed through
http://lidarradar.jpl.nasa.gov
The proposed UAVSAR polinSAR workshop will be held in conjunction with the annual
UAVSAR workshop.
Publications:
Simard, M., Denbina, M. 2018. An Assessment of Temporal Decorrelation Compensation Methods for Forest Canopy Height Estimation Using Airborne L-Band Same-Day Repeat-Pass Polarimetric SAR Interferometry. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing. 11(1), 95-111. DOI: 10.1109/JSTARS.2017.2761338
2015 NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Joint Science Workshop Poster(s)
- Assessment of mangrove vulnerability to human activity in mangroves of Ecuador
-- (Marc Simard, Nathan Thomas, Richard Lucas, Rinku Roy Chowdhurry)
[abstract]
More details may be found in the following project profile(s):
