Retrieval of agricultural crop height from space: A comparison of SAR techniques

Erten E., LOPEZ-SANCHEZ J. M., YUZUGULLU O., HAJNSEK I.

REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT, vol.187, pp.130-144, 2016 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 187
  • Publication Date: 2016
  • Doi Number: 10.1016/j.rse.2016.10.007
  • Journal Name: REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.130-144
  • Keywords: Height estimation, TanDEM-X, Rice, Synthetic Aperture Radar, PoISAR, Interferometry, PoIInSAR, Metamodel, Agriculture, POL-INSAR INVERSION, TANDEM-X, PADDY-RICE, SCATTERING MODEL, FOREST BIOMASS, CANOPY HEIGHT, VEGETATION, RADAR, SENSITIVITY, GROWTH
  • Istanbul Technical University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This paper deals with the retrieval of agricultural crop height from space by using multipolarization Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images. Coherent and incoherent crop height estimation methods are discussed for the first time with a unique TanDEM-X dataset acquired over rice cultivation areas. Indeed, with its polarimetric and interferometric capabilities, the TanDEM-X mission enables the tracking of crop height through interferometric SAR (InSAR), polarimetric interferometric SAR (PoIInSAR) and the inversion of radiative transfer-based backscattering model. The paper evaluates the three aforementioned techniques simultaneously with a data set acquired in September 2014 and 2015 over rice fields in Turkey during their reproductive stage. The assessment of the absolute height accuracy and the limitations of the approaches are provided. In-situ measurements conducted in the same cultivation periods are used for validation purposes. The PoIInSAR and morphological backscattering model results showed better performance with low RMSEs (12 and 13 cm) compared to the differential InSAR result having RMSE of 18 cm.