The potential of ALOS PALSAR backscatter and InSAR coherence for forest growing stock volume estimation in Central Siberia

摘要

The full potential of ALOS PALSAR L-band interferometric (InSAR) coherence data for the estimation of forest growing stock volume (GSV) in the boreal forest has rarely been investigated. Moreover, ALOS PALSAR backscatter and InSAR coherence have yet to be used together to delineate GSV. Due to the observation strategy and the high acquisition success rate over Eurasia, a large amount of high quality ALOS PALSAR L-band data is available over Siberia. Consequently, this paper investigates the capability of ALOS PALSAR backscatter and InSAR coherence for the estimation of GSV in Central Siberia, Russia. The potential of backscatter and coherence are directly compared using the same inventory data. Altogether, 87 PALSAR images are used and eleven forest inventory sites are investigated.