1,720,998 research outputs found
Potential for Snow Water Equivalent Retrieval by Across-Track Formations of SAR Satellites: A Sensitivity Analysis
This paper investigates the potential for accurate retrieval of Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) using an across-track formation of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites
Adaptive processing for spaceborne monitoring of forests using SAR tomography
This paper proposes different processing techniques for the polarimetric 3-D imaging of forested areas using multibaseline interferometric SAR data, acquired in TanDEM configuration from spaceborne SAR sensors. TanDEM-like acquisition modes, based on the simultaneous measurement of interferometric pairs, represent a high-potential alternative for the tomographic imaging of scenes with rapidly decorrelating scattering features using a spaceborne SAR. Unlike coventional tomographic processing, this correlation tomography requires specific processing techniques to estimate the covariance matrix from single-pass InSAR pairs that are uncorrelated one from another. These techniques are proposed in this paper and their potential for boreal forest characterization are evaluated in the frame of the preparation of the SAOCOM CS mission using ESA’s BIOSAR II campaigna data sets acquired at L band by the DLR ESAR sensor
Evaluating spaceborne L-band pol tomo SAR for forest biomass retrieval based on airborne SAR data
This paper presents an evaluation of L-band tomographic synthetic-aperture radar (TomoSAR) data for forest biomass retrievals. Tomograms are processed from multiple synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) data sets from the Krycklan forest site, located in the north and south of Sweden. Tomographic performance is matched to possible future spaceborne SAR configurations such as SAOCOM-CS. Ivol, the integrated volumetric backscatter between 10 m and 30 m, is found to result in improved biomass retrievals compared to those based on slope corrected SAR intensity γ0from the original airborne E-SAR system
Evaluating P-Band TomoSAR for Biomass Retrieval in Boreal Forest
P-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is sensitive to above-ground biomass (AGB) but retrieval accuracy has been shown to deteriorate in topographic areas. In boreal forest, the signal penetrates through the canopy to interact with the ground producing variations in backscatter depending on ground topography, forest structure, and soil moisture. Tomographic processing of multiple SAR images Tomographic SAR (TomoSAR) provides information about the vertical backscatter distribution. This article evaluates the use of P-band TomoSAR data to improve AGB retrievals from backscattered intensity by suppressing the backscattered signal from the ground. This approach can be used even when the tomographic resolution is insufficient to resolve the vertical backscatter profile. The analysis is based on P-band data from two campaigns: BioSAR-1 (2007) in Remingstorp, southern Sweden, and BioSAR-2 (2008) in Krycklan (KR), northern Sweden. BioSAR airborne data were also processed to correspond as closely as possible to future BIOMASS TomoSAR acquisitions, with BioSAR-2-based results shown. A power law AGB model using volumetric HV polarized backscatter performs best in KR, with training residual root mean-squared error (RMSE) of 30%-36% (27-33 t/ha) for airborne data and 38%-39% for simulated BIOMASS data. Airborne TomoSAR data suggest that both vertical and horizontal tomographic resolution are of importance and that it is possible to greatly reduce AGB retrieval bias when compared with airborne P-band SAR backscatter intensity-based retrievals. A lack of significant ground slopes in Remningstorp reduces the benefit of using TomoSAR data which performs similar to retrievals based solely on P-band SAR backscatter intensity
Exploring Forest Vertical Structure With TomoSense: GEDI and SAR Tomography Insights
Exploring vertical forest structures worldwide via remote sensing faces challenges. Recent technologies like waveform light detection and ranging (LiDAR) from NASA's global ecosystem dynamics investigation (GEDI) and SAR tomography (TomoSAR) from future European Space Agency (ESA) BIOMASS offer promising solutions. This article assesses the performance of spaceborne GEDI and TomoSAR airborne data from an ESA's TomoSense campaign to highlight the important role of GEDI measurements in BIOMASS algorithm training and establishing precise site-specific processing parameters. Our study in Germany's Eifel National Park delves into the precision of GEDI and P-band TomoSAR in measuring surface [digital terrain model (DTM)] and vegetation [canopy height model (CHM)] heights. Results demonstrate that GEDI and P-band TomoSAR offer high-resolution and precise surface and vegetation heights and vertical profile measurements. While GEDI relative height (RH) at 98% (RH98) was previously recommended for tropical forests, our findings advocate for RH85 as the optimal metric for temperate forests. The research supports improving the accuracy of both DTM and CHM utilizing GEDI beams with full-power lasers coupled with high sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Ground elevation measurements are more accurate than canopy height estimates for temperate forests, with DTM RMSE about 2 m and CHM RMSE about 3 m for GEDI and TomoSAR measurements. By analyzing the vertical structure of monthly GEDI data, we note a 1-m shift in the volume peak between GEDI's leaf-on and leaf-off periods. At the same time, TomoSAR consistently exhibits a lower volume peak by about 2 m compared to GEDI during leaf-on seasons. In conclusion, our research underscores the complementary roles of TomoSAR and GEDI in accurately mapping diverse forest types, thereby bolstering the effectiveness of the BIOMASS mission
POLARIMETRIC SAR TOMOGRAPHY FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION OF FORESTED AREAS
Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar Tomography (TomoSAR) is a technology to image the three-dimensional (3D) structure of the illuminated media. TomoSAR exploits the key feature of microwaves to penetrate into vegetation, snow, and ice, hence providing the possibility to see features that are hidden to optical and hyper-spectral systems. Several experimental studies by different research groups demonstrate that the use of the 3D information results in an accurate characterization of forested areas, providing access to a number of biophysical variables such as terrain topography below the vegetation, forest height, forest Above Ground Biomass (AGB), and forest classification. This paper is intended to provide the reader with an introduction to the use of TomoSAR for the characterization of forest areas, addressing basic imaging principles and methods, retrieval of biophysical parameters, and perspective for spaceborne missions
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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