Forest Parameters Estimation over Sloping Forest Areas Using Coherence Optimization Method.

Interferometry Polarimetrie Synthetic Aperture Radar (PolInSAR) is known as a technical fusion of Polarimetrie Synthetic Aperture Radar (PolSAR) and Interferometry Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) [1]. In recent years, a great number of methods have been proposed for the forest estimation from Pol-InSAR data. Most of these methods were carried out over relatively flat areas. However, when it comes to sloped terrain, the estimation accuracy deteriorates with the ascending estimation error in volume correlation. In order to overcome this problem, a new method based on the S-RVoG model [2] and coherence optimization theory [3] is presented in this paper. By modifying the ground layer as a range-sloped plane, the S-RVoG is better resemble to real scene. Therefore, the proposed method not only overcomes the limitations of terrain but also improves the accuracy of forest height estimation. The simulated data with different terrain slopes is processed to verify the validity of proposed method.