Estimating slash pine biomass using radar backscatter

• Published in: IEEE transactions on geoscience and remote sensing 1991-05, Vol.29 (3), p.427-431
• Main Authors: Hussin, Yousif Ali, Reich, Robin M., Hoffer, Roger M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Biological and medical sciences; Dendrometry. Forest inventory; Earth Resources And Remote Sensing; Forestry; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
• ISSN: 0196-2892; 1558-0644
• DOI: 10.1109/36.79433

L-band HV multiple-incidence-angle aircraft synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data were analyzed in relation to average stand biomass, basal area, and tree height for 55 slash pine plantations located in northern Florida. This information was used to develop a system of equations to predict average stand biomass as a function of L-band (24.5-cm) radar backscatter. The system of equations developed in this study using three-stage least-squares and combinatorial screening accounted for 97 percent of the variability observed in average stand biomass per hectare. When applied to an independent data set, the biomass equations had an average bias of less than 1 percent with a standard error of approximately 3 percent. These results indicate that future Shuttle Imaging Radar Systems (e.g., SIR-C, which will have cross-polarized radar sensors) should be able to obtain better estimates of forest biomass than were obtained with previous satellite radar missions, which utilized only HH-polarized SAR data.