Inventory of forest biomass in Brazilian Amazon: a local approach using airborne P-band SAR data

The objective of this study is to explore the use of airborne P-band SAR polarimetric data, to stratify biomass by primary and secondary vegetation typology. To ensure that different landscapes of Amazon upland forest are represented, a test-site located in the lower Rio Tapajos region, Pari State, was selected. The backscatter signals derived from the complex image of the P-band SAR were correlated with field data obtained from a forest inventory, for different physiognomic-structural aspects of the tropical rainforest The estimation of above-ground biomass for these forest types was modeled by DBH and total height measurements, including the use of general allometric equations. Statistical regression models were applied to establish the relationship between biomass and radar data at HH, HV and VV polarization. The overall objective of this P-band experiment is to improve the regional monitoring process of biomass dynamics as well as landscape changes, due to human action