Treuhaft, Robert: Jet Propulsion Laboratory / Caltech (Project Lead)
Project Funding:
2008 - 2011
NRA: 2007 NASA: Terrestrial Ecology
Funded by NASA
Abstract:
Remote sensing
of vertical structure bears on forest biomass, ecosystem function, and
biodiversity. Most interferometric SAR (InSAR) proof-of-concept tests
of structure and biomass estimation to date involve sufficient baseline
length and/or polarization diversity to estimate structural parameters
at the few-m level. Some involve uniform forests in relatively flat
terrain. All use fixed baselines or repeat-track interferometry (RTI)
in which temporal decorrelation-changes in the scene between data
acquisitions defining a baseline-is
essentially zero. However, for a single-spacecraft, repeat-track
mission such as the proposed DESDynI, smaller observation sets affected
by temporal decorrelation may yield performance characteristics quite
different from previous results. This proposal therefore bridges the
gap between the performance of published InSAR tests and that of a
repeat-track, L-band mission. Structure- and biomass-estimate
performance will be evaluated as a function of realistic operation and
analysis modes by 1) assessing the limiting or best possible accuracy
of structure and biomass estimation over a variety of complex tropical
forests, with many repeat-track polarimetric baselines; and 2)
assessing the scenario-dependent accuracy for smaller numbers of
baselines which may characterize DESDynI. We will use airborne L-band
RTI InSAR data taken in 2004 over the wet tropical forests of La Selva
Biological Station, Costa Rica, data from the currently flying Japanese
PALSAR over Costa Rica, and PALSAR data in Brazil. The La Selva data
set will determine limiting accuracy by using many polarimetric
baselines selected for minimal temporal decorrelation. Subsets of the
data, with larger temporal decorrelation signatures, will simulate
possible configurations of DESDynI, supplemented by L-band InSAR data
from PALSAR. In order to sample a diversity of tropical forests, we
will estimate vegetation structure and biomass using PALSAR data
combined with field work at moist tropical forests of the Tapajós
National Forest and Purus River Basin in Brazil.
Publications:
Goncalves, F. G., Santos, J. R., Treuhaft, R. N. 2011. Stem volume of tropical forests from polarimetric radar. International Journal of Remote Sensing. 32(2), 503-522. DOI: 10.1080/01431160903475217
Treuhaft, R. N., Goncalves, F. G., Drake, J. B., Chapman, B. D., dos Santos, J. R., Dutra, L. V., Graca, P. M. L. A., Purcell, G. H. 2010. Biomass estimation in a tropical wet forest using Fourier transforms of profiles from lidar or interferometric SAR. Geophysical Research Letters. 37(23). DOI: 10.1029/2010GL045608
Treuhaft, R. N., Chapman, B. D., dos Santos, J. R., Goncalves, F. G., Dutra, L. V., Graca, P. M. L. A., Drake, J. B. 2009. Vegetation profiles in tropical forests from multibaseline interferometric synthetic aperture radar, field, and lidar measurements. Journal of Geophysical Research. 114(D23). DOI: 10.1029/2008JD011674
2011 NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Joint Science Workshop Poster(s)
- Tropical Forest Biomass Estimation from Vertical Fourier Transforms of Lidar and InSAR Profiles
-- (Robert Neil Treuhaft, Fabio G. Goncalves, Jason Drake, Bruce Chapman, João Roberto Santos, Paulo MLA Graça, Luciano Vieira Dutra, George H. Purcell)
[abstract]
2010 NASA Terrestrial Ecology Science Team Meeting Poster(s)
- Vertical structure and aboveground biomass of tropical forests from LiDAR and L-band polarimetric interferometric radar data
-- (Fabio G. Goncalves, Robert N. Treuhaft, Bruce D. Chapman, Beverly E. Law, Luciano V. Dutra, Joao Roberto Santos)
[abstract]
- Estimating Tropical-Forest Biomass from the Fourier Transform of Lidar or InSAR Profiles: Improved Performance and a Paradigm for Lidar-InSAR DESDynI Fusion
-- (Robert Treuhaft, Fabio Gonçalves, Jason Drake, Bruce Chapman, João Roberto dos Santos, Luciano Dutra, Paulo Graça, George Purcell)
[abstract]
More details may be found in the following project profile(s):
