Forest Height Estimaton in Mountainous Terrain Using Ascending and Descending Tandem-X Data

TanDEM-X InSAR data has exhibited commendable performance in forest height inversion, with the semi-empirical SINC model (SeEm-SINC) proving its robustness in flat regions. However, the relationship between InSAR coherence and forest height become unreliable in forest scenes of mountainous terrain. Significant overestimation or underestimation of forest height occurs when using coherence only in areas with positive or negative slope, and the bias is strongly correlated with the range slope. Building upon the SeEm-SINC model, we investigate the relationship between slope and the bias involved in forest height inversion. Additionally, we present a forest height inversion approach utilizing TanDEM-X InSAR ascending and descending data. Experimental results demonstrate that this method effectively mitigates estimation deviations caused by slope in forested mountainous areas.