SAR Images Simulation of Vegetated Areas
- Authors
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 2018
- Source
- HAL-UPMC
- Keywords
- Language
- English
- License
- Unknown
- External links
Abstract
Forest observation with RADAR waves is particularly relevant due to their properties of penetration under canopy. As an example, European Space Agency (ESA) will launch synthetic aperture radar (SAR) operating at P-Band in order to determine the distribution of above-ground biomass in forests. The techniques foreseen include study of radiometry, polarimetric interferometry and tomography. Such penetration properties might be also useful to interrogate the properties of the ground under foliage and in this frame the impact of the water content and the presence of hydrocarbon is of particular interest and it is the theme of this paper.For such applications it is valuable to model the interaction of electromagnetic waves with vegetation to interpret the existing airborne or space data, to generate predictive ones and to carry out sensitivity studies. Previous simulators based on a coherent and discrete formulation have been developed to simulate complex scenarios of forest above a flat ground. The present simulator.accounts for topography and heterogeneity through the use of particular elements for ground and canopy descriptions.Soil water content is considered classically. The presence of hydrocarbons is accounted for through its influence on the soil permittivity based on permittivity measurement of mixtures. The impact of these permittivity changes is evaluated by incorporating these experimental values in the ground part description of the simulation code. In the presentation we will present radiometric and tomographic simulations for tropical forests at P and L bands and extension to short vegetation at higher frequencies.
