Forest monitoring with SIR-C/X-SAR

In April and October 1994 the Space Shuttle Endeavour flew the SIR-C/X-SAR missions, where the Earth was observed for the first time with three radar frequencies from space. During the two missions extensive ground truth campaigns took place at the Oberpfaffenhofen super test site. Beside the deployment of calibration equipment and sampling of agricultural data, two forest stands were under investigation. The aim of this investigations is to relate biophysical tree parameters to SAR measurements by combining ground truth data, radar signature analyses and model calculations. This study should result in a better understanding of the interaction of microwaves with forests and indicate novel areas of forest monitoring using SAR.