Evaluation of multifrequency SAR data for estimating tropical above-ground biomass by employing radiative transfer modeling

The retrieval of the biophysical parameters and subsequent estimation of the above-ground biomass (AGB) of vegetation stands are made possible by the simulation of the extinction and scattering components from the canopy layer using vector radiative transfer (VRT) theory-based scattering models. With the use of such a model, this study aims to evaluate and compare the potential of dual-pol, multi-frequency SAR data for estimating above-ground biomass. The data selected for this work are L-band dual polarized (HH/HV) ALOS-2 data, S-band dual polarized (HH/HV) NovaSAR data, and C-band dual polarized (VV/VH) Sentinel-1 data. The two key biophysical parameters, tree height, and trunk radius are retrieved using the proposed methodology, applying the frequencies independently. A general allometric equation with vegetation-specific coefficients is used to estimate the AGB from the retrieved biophysical parameters. The retrieval results are validated using ground truth measurements collected from the study area. The L-band, with the coefficient of determination ( R-2) of 0.73 and the root mean square error (RMSE) of 35.90 t/ha, has the best correlation between the modeled and field AGBs, followed by the S-band with an R-2 of 0.37 and an RMSE of 63.37 t/ ha, and the C-band with an R-2 of 0.25 and an RMSE of 72.32 t/ha. The L-band has yielded improved estimates of AGB in regression analysis as well, with an R2 of 0.48 and an RMSE of 50.02 t/ha, compared to the S- and C-bands, which have the R-2 of 0.12 and 0.03 and the RMSE of 70.98 t/ha and 80.84 t/ha, respectively.