The potential of microwave radiometers in monitoring forest biomass

Forest biomass is an important factor in the flux of atmospheric CO/sub 2/ and its potential impact on global climatic change. In this study a mathematical evaluation of the potential of microwave radiometers for monitoring forest biomass is carried out. For this purpose, a microwave emission model is developed using the iterative solution of the radiative transfer equation to relate the brightness temperature to the forest geometric and dielectric parameters. Then allometric equations are employed to relate the biomass to forest geometric parameters. Numerical simulations using ground truth collected from Landes Forest of France show that at P- and L-bands the polarization index is correlated to the forest biomass. At C-Band the brightness temperature and the forest biomass are correlated.<
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