Boreal forest transmissivity in the microwave domain using ground-based measurements

Author

Pardé, Mickaël ; Goïta, Kalifa ; Royer, Alain ; Vachon, François

Author_Institution

Centre d´´Applic. et de Recherches en Teledetection, Univ. de Sherbrooke, Que., Canada

Volume

2

Issue

2

fYear

2005

fDate

4/1/2005 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

169

Lastpage

171

Abstract

This letter proposes an estimation of microwave transmissivity within the Canadian boreal forest. The aim is to correct the forest effect in snow water equivalent estimation from Special Sensor Microwave Imager and Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer microwave measurements. The estimation was carried out using ground-based radiometric measurements, at 19 and 37 GHz, and for both polarizations. The results show that the transmissivity is correlated with the stem volume and is independent of the tree species. For high stem volumes (>100 m³/ha), the transmissivity is found to be 0.4 and 0.3 for 19 and 37 GHz, respectively.

Keywords

forestry; hydrological techniques; microwave measurement; radiometers; snow; vegetation mapping; 19 GHz; 37 GHz; Canada; Special Sensor Microwave Imager and Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer; boreal forest; ground-based measurements; microwave measurements; microwave radiometry; remote sensing; snow water equivalent estimation; stem volumes; transmissivity; Attenuation; Brightness temperature; Image sensors; Lifting equipment; Microwave measurements; Microwave radiometry; Microwave sensors; Scattering; Snow; Water resources; Boreal forest; microwave radiometry; transmissivity;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1545-598X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LGRS.2004.842469

Filename

1420298