Backscatter and interferometry for estimating above-ground biomass of sparse woodland: A case study in belize

Citation

Viergever K, Woodhouse I, Marino A, Brollyand M & Stuart N (2009) Backscatter and interferometry for estimating above-ground biomass of sparse woodland: A case study in belize. In: volume 3. IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, Cape Town, South Africa, 12.07.2009-17.07.2009, pp. III1047-III1050. https://doi.org/10.1109/IGARSS.2009.5417958

Abstract
Tropical savannas cover 20% of the Earth's land surface and are important ecosystems in the global carbon cycle due to their high productivity. This paper evaluates the use of SAR for estimating above-ground biomass of the woody vegetation in heterogeneous tropical savanna woodland in Belize, Central America. Single-pass shortwave InSAR data used are X-band (Intermap) and C-band (AIRSAR and SRTM). L- and P-band SAR backscatter data are from AIRSAR. Results show that SAR backscatter has a relatively low correlation to above ground biomass in the sparse savanna woodlands. Retrieved canopy heights from both X- and C-band InSAR give a better representation of the spatial distribution of AGB, but cannot be used to estimate biomass directly due to the heterogeneity of the canopy.

Keywords
tree height; above ground biomass; savanna; woodland; InSAR; SAR backscatter

Journal
International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS): Volume 3