ESTIMATING FOREST BIOMASS BY REMOTE SENSING RADAR DATA IN BRAZIL

Remote sensing-radar was used to analyze forest mapping and biomass estimates on Brazilian terribly Two examples of SAR attributes for the modeling of the aboveground biomass of forest stands are presented: (1) full-polarimetric attributes of PALSAR/AIDS (Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar/Advanced Land Observing Satellite) fir modeling in the Amazonian tropical forest, considering the influence of the geomorphometric aspects on this radar response, and (2) polarimetric and interferometric airborne data (X-HH and full-polarimetric of P-band) for modeling Eucalyptus sp. stands. In both cases, an analysis of forest structure variability through polarimetric signatures was conducted. A multivariate regression technique was used to integrate the variables from polarimetric and/or interferometric radar attributes and field inventory. Considering the terrain aspects where the tropical forest was located, the most significant variables for the biomass modeling were the Volumetric Scattering of Freeman-Durden target decomposition, Anisotropy, Relief Elevation, Slope, and the first and third helicity components of the Touzi model. For the Eucalyptus biomass model, the Interferometry Height and Canopy Scattering Index variables were significant. The statistical analysis based on field survey measures to validate each model, indicated a margin of error below 20% for the biomass estimations, showing the importance of SAR attributes for models of natural and planted forest stock density.