Multitemporal JERS repeat-pass coherence for growing-stock volume estimation of Siberian forest

Multitemporal radar data from the Japanese Earth Resources Satellite (JERS) satellite from the period 1993 to 1998 have been used to investigate if L-band interferometric coherence with a 44-day temporal baseline is suitable for estimations of growing-stock volume in boreal forest. Two forest regions north of Krasnoyarsk in Siberia have been used as test areas. Seasonal variations in the repeat-pass coherence have been studied, and a comparison with C-band coherence from the European Remote sensing Satellite 1 and 2 (ERS-1/2) tandem missions in 1997 and 1998 has been done. JERS coherence from the winter shows a clear correlation with the forest growing-stock volume. For the summer scenes, the spread in the values is too large to give reliable results. Acquisitions from the spring and fall show large problems with decorrelation caused by temporal changes. The results indicate potential of repeat-pass interferometric L-band coherence in winter, as will be provided by the forthcoming Advanced Land Observing Satellite/Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (ALOS/PALSAR) to map growing-stock volume in Siberia and boreal forests.