Mapping Plant Functional Types in Floodplain Wetlands: An Analysis of C-Band Polarimetric SAR Data from RADARSAT-2

The inclusion of functional approaches on wetland characterizations and on biodiversity assessments improves our understanding of ecosystem functioning. In the Lower Parana River floodplain, we assessed the ability of C-band polarimetric SAR data of contrasting incidence angles to discriminate wetland areas dominated by different plant functional types (PFTs). Unsupervised H/alpha and H/A/alpha Wishart classifications were implemented on two RADARSAT-2 images differing in their incidence angles (FQ24 and FQ08). Obtained classes were assigned to the information classes (open water, bare soil and PFTs) by a priori labeling criteria that involved the expected interaction mechanisms between SAR signal and PFTs as well as the relative values of H and alpha. The product obtained with the shallow incidence angle scene had a higher accuracy than the one obtained with the steep incidence angle product (61.5% vs. 46.2%). We show how a systematic analysis of the H/A/alpha space can be used to improve the knowledge about the radar polarimetric response of herbaceous vegetation. The map obtained provides novel ecologically relevant information about plant strategies dominating the floodplain. Since the obtained classes can be interpreted in terms of their functional features, the approach is a valuable tool for predicting vegetation response to floods, anthropic impacts and climate change.