Abstract:
This article demonstrates how 3-D vegetation structure can be approximated by interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) backscatter-height histograms. Single-look ...Show MoreMetadata
Abstract:
This article demonstrates how 3-D vegetation structure can be approximated by interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) backscatter-height histograms. Single-look backscatter measurements are plotted against the InSAR phase height and are aggregated spatially over a forest patch to form a 3-D histogram, referred to as InSAR backscatter-height histogram or simply InSAR histogram. InSAR histograms resemble LiDAR waveforms, suggesting that existing algorithms used to retrieve canopy height and ground topography from radar tomograms or LiDAR waveforms can be applied to InSAR histograms. Three algorithms are evaluated to generate maps of digital terrain, surface, and canopy height models: Gaussian decomposition, quantile, and backscatter threshold. Full-polarimetric L-band uninhabited aerial vehicle synthetic aperture radar (UAVSAR) data collected over the Gabonese Lopé National Park during the 2016 AfriSAR campaign are used to illustrate and compare the performance of the algorithms for the HH, HV, VV, HH+VV, and HH-VV polarimetric channels. Results show that radar-derived maps using the InSAR histograms differ by 4 m (top-canopy), 5 m (terrain), and 6 m (forest height) in terms of average root-mean-square errors (RMSEs) from standard maps derived from full-waveform laser, vegetation, and ice sensor (LVIS) LiDAR measurements.
Published in: IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing ( Volume: 58, Issue: 6, June 2020)
Funding Agency:
Radar Science and Engineering Section, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA
Gustavo H. X. Shiroma received the B.S. degree in computer engineering from the Polytechnic School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, in 2008, the M.Sc. degree in computer engineering from the Polytechnic University of Milan, Milan, Italy, in 2008, through the Top Industrial Managers for Europe (TIME) Double Degree Program, and the M.Sc. degree in electronic and computer engineering from the Aeronautics Institut...Show More
Gustavo H. X. Shiroma received the B.S. degree in computer engineering from the Polytechnic School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, in 2008, the M.Sc. degree in computer engineering from the Polytechnic University of Milan, Milan, Italy, in 2008, through the Top Industrial Managers for Europe (TIME) Double Degree Program, and the M.Sc. degree in electronic and computer engineering from the Aeronautics Institut...View more
Radar Science and Engineering Section, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA
Marco Lavalle received the M.Sc. degree in telecommunication engineering from the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy, in 2006, the Ph.D. degree from the University of Rennes 1, Rennes, France, in 2009, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, in December 2009.
He is a Scientist with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA. From 2006 to 20...Show More
Marco Lavalle received the M.Sc. degree in telecommunication engineering from the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy, in 2006, the Ph.D. degree from the University of Rennes 1, Rennes, France, in 2009, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, in December 2009.
He is a Scientist with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA. From 2006 to 20...View more
Contents Radar Science and Engineering Section, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA
Gustavo H. X. Shiroma received the B.S. degree in computer engineering from the Polytechnic School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, in 2008, the M.Sc. degree in computer engineering from the Polytechnic University of Milan, Milan, Italy, in 2008, through the Top Industrial Managers for Europe (TIME) Double Degree Program, and the M.Sc. degree in electronic and computer engineering from the Aeronautics Institute of Technology (ITA), São José dos Campos, Brazil, in 2014.
From 2009 to 2015, he was with Bradar, working on SAR interferometry (InSAR) and polarimetric SAR interferometry (PolInSAR). In 2015, he joined the NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA, USA, as a Research Affiliate. Since June 2019, he has been with JPL as a Signal Analysis Engineer within the NISAR Algorithm Development Team (ADT). His research interests include SAR processing algorithms, polarimetric and non-polarimetric SAR interferometry, SAR tomography, and estimation of forest parameters from SAR data.
Gustavo H. X. Shiroma received the B.S. degree in computer engineering from the Polytechnic School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, in 2008, the M.Sc. degree in computer engineering from the Polytechnic University of Milan, Milan, Italy, in 2008, through the Top Industrial Managers for Europe (TIME) Double Degree Program, and the M.Sc. degree in electronic and computer engineering from the Aeronautics Institute of Technology (ITA), São José dos Campos, Brazil, in 2014.
From 2009 to 2015, he was with Bradar, working on SAR interferometry (InSAR) and polarimetric SAR interferometry (PolInSAR). In 2015, he joined the NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA, USA, as a Research Affiliate. Since June 2019, he has been with JPL as a Signal Analysis Engineer within the NISAR Algorithm Development Team (ADT). His research interests include SAR processing algorithms, polarimetric and non-polarimetric SAR interferometry, SAR tomography, and estimation of forest parameters from SAR data.View more
Radar Science and Engineering Section, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA
Marco Lavalle received the M.Sc. degree in telecommunication engineering from the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy, in 2006, the Ph.D. degree from the University of Rennes 1, Rennes, France, in 2009, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, in December 2009.
He is a Scientist with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA. From 2006 to 2008, he was a Visiting Scientist with the European Space Agency (ESA), where he supported ESA’s activities on polarimetric radar calibration and polarimetric radar interferometry science-algorithm development. From January 2010 to December 2011, he was a NASA Postdoctoral Fellow with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology. He has been a permanent Scientist with the JPL Radar Science and Engineering Section since January 2012. He has been a Principal Investigator, a Co-Investigator, and a Panel Reviewer for several NASA programs. His research interests include retrieval algorithm development, physical and statistical model formulation, electromagnetic propagation, scattering theory, SAR tomography, polarimetric SAR interferometry, land parameter characterization, ecosystem modeling, and parameter estimation.
Dr. Lavalle is a member of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR), Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR), Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS), and ROSE-L Project Science Teams. He was a recipient of the Student Prize Paper Award from EUSAR 2008 Conference, Friedrichshafen, Germany. He has received the 2019 NASA Early Career Public Achievement Medal, and the 2019 JPL Lew Allen Award for Excellence.
Marco Lavalle received the M.Sc. degree in telecommunication engineering from the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy, in 2006, the Ph.D. degree from the University of Rennes 1, Rennes, France, in 2009, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, in December 2009.
He is a Scientist with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA. From 2006 to 2008, he was a Visiting Scientist with the European Space Agency (ESA), where he supported ESA’s activities on polarimetric radar calibration and polarimetric radar interferometry science-algorithm development. From January 2010 to December 2011, he was a NASA Postdoctoral Fellow with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology. He has been a permanent Scientist with the JPL Radar Science and Engineering Section since January 2012. He has been a Principal Investigator, a Co-Investigator, and a Panel Reviewer for several NASA programs. His research interests include retrieval algorithm development, physical and statistical model formulation, electromagnetic propagation, scattering theory, SAR tomography, polarimetric SAR interferometry, land parameter characterization, ecosystem modeling, and parameter estimation.
Dr. Lavalle is a member of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR), Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR), Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS), and ROSE-L Project Science Teams. He was a recipient of the Student Prize Paper Award from EUSAR 2008 Conference, Friedrichshafen, Germany. He has received the 2019 NASA Early Career Public Achievement Medal, and the 2019 JPL Lew Allen Award for Excellence.View more
