Characteristics of Decomposition Powers of L-Band Multi-Polarimetric SAR in Assessing Tree Growth of Industrial Plantation Forests in the Tropics

Remote Sensing

Shoko Kobayashi¹  Yoshiharu Omura²  Kazadi Sanga-Ngoie¹  Ragil Widyorini⁴  Shuichi Kawai²  Bambang Supriadi³ 

[1] Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, 1-1 Jumonjibaru, Beppu, Oita 874-8577, Japan; E-Mail:;Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan; E-Mails:;Research and Development, PT. Musi Hutan Persada, Jl. Raya PT. TEL Desa Tebat Agung, Kec. Rambang Dangku Kab, Muara Enim, Sumatera Selatan 31172, Indonesia; E-Mail:;Faculty of Forestry, University of Gadjah Mada, Jl. Agro no. 1, Bulaksumur, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia; E-Mail:

关键词: polarimetric SAR;    ALOS/PALSAR;    microwave satellite;    scattering power decomposition;    fast-growing trees;    Acacia;    stem volume;    forest biomass;   

DOI  :  10.3390/rs4103058

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

A decomposition scheme was applied to ALOS/PALSAR data obtained from a fast-growing tree plantation in Sumatra, Indonesia to extract tree stem information and then estimate the forest stand volume. The scattering power decomposition of the polarimetric SAR data was performed both with and without a rotation matrix and compared to the following field-measured forest biometric parameters: tree diameter, tree height and stand volume. The analytical results involving the rotation matrix correlated better than those without the rotation matrix even for natural scattering surfaces within the forests. Our primary finding was that all of the decomposition powers from the rotated matrix correlated significantly to the forest biometric parameters when divided by the total power. The surface scattering ratio of the total power markedly decreased with the forest growth, whereas the canopy and double-bounce scattering ratios increased. The observations of the decomposition powers were consistent with the tree growth characteristics. Consequently, we found a significant logarithmic relationship between the decomposition powers and the forest biometric parameters that can potentially be used to estimate the forest stand volume.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2012 by the authors, licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.