¶ InSAR remote sensing for forest inventory
Description: Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is a cost-effective ($0.16/hectare) remote sensing technique for large-scale forest inventory, capable of mapping forest height, structure, and biomass regardless of cloud cover or time of day. While less precise than LiDAR, InSAR provides critical data for forest management, such as identifying harvesting, monitoring degradation, and estimating canopy height, especially when using TanDEM-X data to analyse phase height (
Key Aspects of InSAR in Forestry
Methodology: InSAR uses phase differences between two or more Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images taken from different positions to calculate 3D structural information (heights).
Advantages: It penetrates cloud cover, works day or night, and is significantly cheaper ($0.16/ha) compared to LiDAR ($3–16/ha).
Applications:
Forest Inventory: Mapping forest height, canopy density, and volume.
Change Detection: Efficiently identifying clear-cuts and forest degradation.
Classification: Differentiating forest from non-forest areas with high accuracy () using coherence.
Limitations: InSAR accuracy can be reduced in steep, mountainous terrain. It is often used for large-scale assessments, while LiDAR remains superior for high-precision, small-area studies.
Future Trends: Combining InSAR with Lidar and optical data is increasingly used to improve biomass estimation accuracy
Snapshot: 0
Category: Remote Sensing, Imaging & Analytics
FWPA RD&E: 7.3
¶ Details
| Company | Country | Type | Website | Available in Australia? | Year | Status | Remarks | TRL | Employees | Colour | Inventors | Patent Model. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Innovatek | Innovatek News | Paper | Link | 2019 | 0.0 | Orange |