Height estimation of boreal forest: Interferometric model-based inversion at L- and X-band versus HUTSCAT profiling scatterometer

In this letter, we present results from the FinSAR project, where the E-SAR and Helsinki University of Technology Scatterometer (HUTSCAT) instruments were operated together in order to validate tree-height retrieval algorithms for boreal forest. The campaign was carried out in Finland in fall 2003. The main instruments of the campaign were the E-SAR airborne radar (operating at L- and X-band) and the HUTSCAT helicopter-borne profiling scatterometer (operating at X- and C-band). We compare and discuss forest height obtained from the inversion quad-pol polarimetric interferometric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data sets at L-band and forest height obtained from the inversion of single-pol X-band in SAR data with forest height estimates from HUTSCAT scatterometer data. Our results show that the forest height values, which are estimated by means of two different radar instruments, are in good agreement. The correlation between HUTSCAT and E-SAR height estimates (R = 0.77 at L-band and R = 0.75 at X-band) underlines the good agreement between the results obtained by the two approaches.