Capabilities of BIOMASS Three-Baseline PolInSAR Mode for the Characterization of Tropical Forests

As the 7th Earth Explorer Mission within the ESA Earth Observation Program, BIOMASS will be the first spaceborne P-band polarimetric interferometric SAR (PolInSAR) mission, dedicated to global forest remote sensing. Compared with airborne PolInSAR, BIOMASS PolInSAR faces several intrinsic limitation...

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Main Authors: Yanzhou Xie, Laurent Ferro-Famil, Yue Huang, Thuy Le Toan, Jianjun Zhu, Haiqiang Fu, Peng Shen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
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Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10744206/
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author Yanzhou Xie
Laurent Ferro-Famil
Yue Huang
Thuy Le Toan
Jianjun Zhu
Haiqiang Fu
Peng Shen
author_facet Yanzhou Xie
Laurent Ferro-Famil
Yue Huang
Thuy Le Toan
Jianjun Zhu
Haiqiang Fu
Peng Shen
author_sort Yanzhou Xie
collection DOAJ
description As the 7th Earth Explorer Mission within the ESA Earth Observation Program, BIOMASS will be the first spaceborne P-band polarimetric interferometric SAR (PolInSAR) mission, dedicated to global forest remote sensing. Compared with airborne PolInSAR, BIOMASS PolInSAR faces several intrinsic limitations, including the reduced number of baselines, low bandwidth of 6 MHz, and the 3-day repeat-pass acquisition mode. In this study, the capabilities of three-baseline PolInSAR in BIOMASS configuration and the spaceborne system-induced impacts are systematically evaluated. First, the BIOMASS data were simulated using the airborne P-band SAR acquisitions collected over two different tropical forests in Paracou, French Guiana, and Mondah, Gabon. Second, the forest height was retrieved using a three-baseline algorithm based on polarimetric coherence optimization with multi-baseline joint diagonalization. Finally, the impacts of spaceborne PolInSAR were quantified and analyzed. The results show that the performance of PolInSAR inversion in the spaceborne configuration decreases compared to that of the original airborne data. However, the three-baseline method still yields acceptable results, with a root-mean-square error ranging from 4.92 to 6.07 m and a correlation coefficient (<italic>R</italic><sup>2</sup>) from 0.32 to 0.85, within hectare-scale forest height statistics. This study demonstrates that the limited bandwidth of BIOMASS has a certain impact on refined forest structure parameter retrieval, while the three-baseline PolInSAR method remains effective for large-scale forest mapping, with accuracy meeting the design requirements of the BIOMASS mission.
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spelling doaj-art-b57ef6ee223f4547a3e0b6500d7766152024-11-27T00:00:07ZengIEEEIEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing1939-14042151-15352025-01-011839841210.1109/JSTARS.2024.348588210744206Capabilities of BIOMASS Three-Baseline PolInSAR Mode for the Characterization of Tropical ForestsYanzhou Xie0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1767-2490Laurent Ferro-Famil1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2036-6232Yue Huang2Thuy Le Toan3Jianjun Zhu4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7185-6429Haiqiang Fu5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2306-8721Peng Shen6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6691-1398School of Geosciences and Info-Physics, Central South University, Changsha, ChinaISAE-Supaero and CESBIO, University of Toulouse, Toulouse, FranceDSO&#x002F;CMR&#x002F;DEP, M&#x00E9;t&#x00E9;o France, Toulouse, FranceCESBIO, University of Toulouse and the GlobEO-Global Earth Observation, Toulouse, FranceSchool of Geosciences and Info-Physics, Central South University, Changsha, ChinaSchool of Geosciences and Info-Physics, Central South University, Changsha, ChinaSchool of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, ChinaAs the 7th Earth Explorer Mission within the ESA Earth Observation Program, BIOMASS will be the first spaceborne P-band polarimetric interferometric SAR (PolInSAR) mission, dedicated to global forest remote sensing. Compared with airborne PolInSAR, BIOMASS PolInSAR faces several intrinsic limitations, including the reduced number of baselines, low bandwidth of 6 MHz, and the 3-day repeat-pass acquisition mode. In this study, the capabilities of three-baseline PolInSAR in BIOMASS configuration and the spaceborne system-induced impacts are systematically evaluated. First, the BIOMASS data were simulated using the airborne P-band SAR acquisitions collected over two different tropical forests in Paracou, French Guiana, and Mondah, Gabon. Second, the forest height was retrieved using a three-baseline algorithm based on polarimetric coherence optimization with multi-baseline joint diagonalization. Finally, the impacts of spaceborne PolInSAR were quantified and analyzed. The results show that the performance of PolInSAR inversion in the spaceborne configuration decreases compared to that of the original airborne data. However, the three-baseline method still yields acceptable results, with a root-mean-square error ranging from 4.92 to 6.07 m and a correlation coefficient (<italic>R</italic><sup>2</sup>) from 0.32 to 0.85, within hectare-scale forest height statistics. This study demonstrates that the limited bandwidth of BIOMASS has a certain impact on refined forest structure parameter retrieval, while the three-baseline PolInSAR method remains effective for large-scale forest mapping, with accuracy meeting the design requirements of the BIOMASS mission.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10744206/6-MHz bandwidthBIOMASS missionnon-volume decorrelationP-bandthree-baseline polarimetric interferometric SAR (PolInSAR)tropical forest height
spellingShingle Yanzhou Xie
Laurent Ferro-Famil
Yue Huang
Thuy Le Toan
Jianjun Zhu
Haiqiang Fu
Peng Shen
Capabilities of BIOMASS Three-Baseline PolInSAR Mode for the Characterization of Tropical Forests
IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
6-MHz bandwidth
BIOMASS mission
non-volume decorrelation
P-band
three-baseline polarimetric interferometric SAR (PolInSAR)
tropical forest height
title Capabilities of BIOMASS Three-Baseline PolInSAR Mode for the Characterization of Tropical Forests
title_full Capabilities of BIOMASS Three-Baseline PolInSAR Mode for the Characterization of Tropical Forests
title_fullStr Capabilities of BIOMASS Three-Baseline PolInSAR Mode for the Characterization of Tropical Forests
title_full_unstemmed Capabilities of BIOMASS Three-Baseline PolInSAR Mode for the Characterization of Tropical Forests
title_short Capabilities of BIOMASS Three-Baseline PolInSAR Mode for the Characterization of Tropical Forests
title_sort capabilities of biomass three baseline polinsar mode for the characterization of tropical forests
topic 6-MHz bandwidth
BIOMASS mission
non-volume decorrelation
P-band
three-baseline polarimetric interferometric SAR (PolInSAR)
tropical forest height
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10744206/
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