Data Fusion Study Between Polarimetric SAR, Hyperspectral and Lidar Data for Forest Information

ALOS PALSAR L-band quad-pol data were acquired over our study area on Vancouver Island in British Columbia in the summer of 2007. The site has significant topographic relief and high biomass in this temperate coastal rainforest. Our emphasis was on integration and fusion techniques of polarimetric SAR, hyperspectral and LIDAR data for useful forest information extraction. The polarimetric SAR techniques and analysis methods studied in this project drew on the work of other researchers. The Jong-Sen Lee algorithm for polarization compensation for terrain azimuth slope variations was implemented and tested. The Shane Cloude decomposition method, with basic types of scattering analysis for reducing sensitivity to topography effects was examined and applied. In this study, the hyperspectral data was used for providing high spectral resolution information, such as major forest species and land-cover characterization, and the LIDAR data were utilized to generate information related to vertical structure of both the underlying topography and the forest structure. The combination of these data sources and techniques provided an opportunity to examine the potential capabilities of polarimetric SAR and the synergy of the fused data for forest classification.