Mapping of wind-thrown forests using satellite SAR images

The study focuses on investigation and evaluation of wind-thrown forest mapping using satellite remotely sensed data from three synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensors. The study is carried out at Remningstorp, a test site in the south of Sweden dominated by coniferous forest, where trees were manual felled to simulate wind-thrown forest. The satellite data consisted of time series of HH polarized SAR images acquired by the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR), Radarsat-2 (C-band) and TerraSAR-X (X-band). The results from visual interpretation of SAR images acquired before and after the simulated wind-throw together with corresponding ratio images show that ALOS PALSAR HH polarized intensity images are not able to detect wind-thrown forest, probably due to too coarse spatial resolution. In contrast, the wind-thrown forest is clearly visible in the Radarsat-2 and TerraSAR-X HH polarized images, implying that it may be possible to develop a new application using these SAR data for mapping of wind-thrown forests.