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Detecting forest structure and biomass with C-band multipolarization radar - Physical model and field testsThe ability of C-band radar (4.75 GHz) to discriminate features of forest structure, including biomass, is tested using a truck-mounted scatterometer for field tests on a 1.5-3.0 m pygmy forest of cypress (Cupressus pygmaea) and pine (Pinus contorta ssp, Bolanderi) near Mendocino, CA. In all, 31 structural variables of the forest are quantified at seven sites. Also measured was the backscatter from a life-sized physical model of the pygmy forest, composed of nine wooden trees with 'leafy branches' of sponge-wrapped dowels. This model enabled independent testing of the effects of stem, branch, and leafy branch biomass, branch angle, and moisture content on radar backscatter. Field results suggested that surface area of leaves played a greater role in leaf scattering properties than leaf biomass per se. Tree leaf area index was strongly correlated with vertically polarized power backscatter (r = 0.94; P less than 0.01). Field results suggested that the scattering role of leaf water is enhanced as leaf surface area per unit leaf mass increases; i.e., as the moist scattering surfaces become more dispersed. Fog condensate caused a measurable rise in forest backscatter, both from surface and internal rises in water content. Tree branch mass per unit area was highly correlated with cross-polarized backscatter in the field (r = 0.93; P less than 0.01), a result also seen in the physical model.
Document ID
19870059269
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Westman, Walter E.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Paris, Jack F.
(California Institute of Technology Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, United States)
Date Acquired
August 13, 2013
Publication Date
July 1, 1987
Publication Information
Publication: Remote Sensing of Environment
Volume: 22
ISSN: 0034-4257
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Accession Number
87A46543
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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